


Secretive Curse

by dejiko001



Series: Kaoru's Missing Thing in Her Life [2]
Category: Demashitaa! Powerpuff Girls Z
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, Murder Mystery, Mystery, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Romance, Slow To Update
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-06-23
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:07:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 46,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22473847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dejiko001/pseuds/dejiko001
Summary: Sequel toKaoru's Missing Thing in Her Life.A year has passed since the RRBZ and PPGZ have gotten together. One day, mysterious murders start happening around the city. And unfortunately for the boys, the secrets that they've been able to hide from the girls until now begin to reveal…
Relationships: Akatsutsumi Momoko/Brick, Boomer/Goutokuji Miyako, Butch/Matsubara Kaoru
Series: Kaoru's Missing Thing in Her Life [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1958596
Kudos: 11





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own the anime/manga called: Demashitaa! Powerpuff Girls Z and any of its characters used in this fanfic.
> 
> Inspiration: marinav92 on FanFiction.Net (FFN).
> 
> This fanfic was originally posted on FFN in 2012 with the prologue and Chapters 1–11. Chapters 12 and above are cross-posted from FFN. All updates moving forward will first be posted on FFN and then AO3.
> 
> Warning: I still did some of my role-playing scenarios between me, Kaoru, and Butch before I finally quit in later chapters, which gets explained later, so please bear with the 2012 version of me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: HELLO, HELLO, PEOPLE 8D!
> 
> Kaoru: ...Oh, God, this isn't what I'm thinking it is, is it? e_e
> 
> Me: Maybe~ c:
> 
> Kaoru: ...WTF. WHY TODAY?
> 
> Me: BECAUSE IT'S THE ANNIVERSARY OF "KMTiHL (AKA "Kaoru's Missing Thing in Her Life")"! D8
> 
> Kaoru: NO, I MEANT WHY MAKE A SEQUEL IN THE FIRST PLACE =A=! I THOUGHT THAT DAMN FANFIC WAS OVER!
> 
> Me: ...I clearly stated that there would be a sequel, Kaoru :'D. You were just too busy chasing Butch around c':
> 
> Butch: So...does this mean that I'll be able to do more things to Kaoru-chan 8D?
> 
> Me: Basically, yeah 8D.
> 
> Butch: WHOO-HOO!
> 
> Kaoru: WHAT THE - OKAY, NO. JUST NO.
> 
> Me: -ignores Kaoru- AND NOW, ONWARD TO THE SEQUEL THAT YOU'VE ALL BE WAITING FOR: "Secretive Curse"! 8D
> 
> Kaoru: NOW WAIT JUST A -
> 
> Butch: -covers her mouth- c:
> 
> Me: Anyway, I apologize for the short prologue, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!

The white full moon was shining down upon one of the forests on the outskirts of Tokyo City. Barely a sound was heard throughout the forest; not a breeze, nor rustling from the leaves of the trees or bushes. The moonlight could be seen upon the ground of the forest through the cracks of the leaves belonging to none other than mere trees, as though lighting up a pathway for one to follow.

From there, the sounds of crunching and snapping could be heard. A male teenager was walking along one of the forest's paths, having dark brown hair with blonde highlights at the end and piercing light brown eyes. His hair was short and typical, but also slightly messy. However, it didn't deny the fact that the boy was _at least_ handsome. A mere smirk was on his face as he was throwing a baseball up and down, catching it in the process while heading down towards the moonlighted path.

"Told them I wasn't a coward for going into this forest," he muttered as his smirk grew even more. Throwing the baseball up in the air once more, he muttered once more, "Hell, I was right about this forest. There's nothing in this place at all, except a bunch of forest crap." As he let out a breath, he could feel the cold atmosphere surrounding him. Cursing under his breath, he wondered why it had to be so cold during the night.

Seeing of how he reached upon a clearing, he grinned, quickly looking to see if his friends were around. Upon seeing them standing, he ran over to the trio—only to have his grin quickly get wiped off of his face. Slowing down, his face became pale quickly as the baseball within his hand dropped to the ground, making a soft thud after coming in contact with the grass.

His friends—they were bloody all over. The only reason why they even seemed to be standing were due to the fact that there were trees behind them, giving off the illusion he had seen. Red blood stained the grass heavily, indicating that there was recently a puddle of blood. What truly frightened him was the fact that his friends had on terrified looks.

"W-What the hell happened here?" He finally managed to yell.

Quickly, he ran over to the trio as he called out their names, praying that this had been some prank. Even if it was a prank, he wouldn't care; as long as they were with him, he'd be content. They were the only reason why he was still living, why he even bothered to go to school in the first place, or why he managed to continue on in his life, even if he would never dare to admit it to them because of his pride. His voice began to crack as he called out their names. Just as soon as he brushed his finger against the blood of his friends, he felt a presence behind him.

Turning around, he found that there was no one there. How could there be? He and his friends were the only ones _there_ , unless…there was another he didn't know about. Thinking about that thought made his eyes widen quickly. Swallowing his fear, he yelled out hoarsely, "Who's there?"

He could hear it. The sounds of breathing. But _where?_ Where were they coming from?

He merely continued to turn around and around, turning his head to and fro in panic. The fear began to consume him and even though he wanted to run, he couldn't. His feet were placed on the ground, for some strange reason.

Before he knew it, there was a figure in front of him.

Just as soon as his eyes went wide, he screamed—just before he died at the hands of the figure by being stabbed through the stomach with none other than a fist.

The figure looked down at the male teen, scowling. "How pitiful. And here I thought you'd put up more of a fight compared to your friends." Licking the blood off of his fingers, he then scoffed. "Your blood is _disgusting_ , just like your friends. I've wasted my time here."

Leaving the dead quartet of friends behind, the figure left the clearing and began to walk through the forest, wiping the blood off of his hands with a handkerchief he took out from his pocket. Seeing of how he reached his destination, he jumped up onto a large branch of a tall tree, giving him a clear view of Tokyo City.

He smirked darkly, bringing up his dried bloody hand and clenching it into a fist. "Time to track down those Rowdyruff Brats."


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: HI PEOPLE! It's been a while, hasn't it? I know I should be working on my other fanfics, but I feel like this fanfic should have a weekly update, so all I can say is: LOOK FORWARD TO MONDAYS!
> 
> Kaoru: WHY? JUST WHY?
> 
> Me: ...Would you prefer that I worked on "Takeshi Matsubara: Boy of Dog?" then?
> 
> Kaoru: -points at Butch- Only if he ends up dying =_=
> 
> Butch: D: Kaoru-chan, you're so mean! Why do you have to be in denial about us?
> 
> Kaoru: SHUT UP, DAMMIT!
> 
> Me: Anyway, since it's been two weeks, I'll try to work on the second chapter of this. Right now, I'm focusing on my other fanfics, especially since one of them is almost DONE, so I'm just really excited at the fact that I FINALLY get to finish something over the summer 8D. Oh, and I might go into an updating spree~.
> 
> Kaoru: ...Oh, God, no.
> 
> Me: Oh, God, YES 8D. Now, without further delay, here's chapter one of "Secretive Curse"!

"Kaoru."

The black haired girl known as Kaoru laying in bed merely groaned in response before pulling her blanket above her head, covering her body completely. She curled her body somewhat into a ball in order to make herself feel even more comfortable, not wanting to wake up just yet.

Standing beside her bed was none other than a teenage boy, probably around the age of seventeen. His hair was completely and naturally spiked up, giving emphasis to his pale skin and his dark green piercing eyes that were looking at the girl in exasperation. Setting his backpack down on the floor, he sighed before muttering softly, "This girl…"

Kaoru once again shifted under her blanket, making soft groaning sounds as she shifted into a different position.

Scratching his head, the boy raised an eyebrow before going towards the window and opening the curtains. Walking straight back to the girl's bed, he stated once more, "Kaoru." Of course, he had gotten no response to that, so he merely sighed before quickly pulling the blanket off of the girl.

Immediately, Kaoru groaned loudly and tried searching for her blanket by moving her hand around, still somewhat curled into a ball.

The teenage boy merely started to tap his foot, raising an eyebrow at Kaoru in the process as he stared at her figure.

After a couple of seconds, Kaoru reluctantly opened her eyes, revealing them to be light green. Still looking half-asleep, she yawned softly as she sat up and glanced at the unknown and blurry figure before her. Blinking a couple of times and rubbing her eyes, it revealed to none other than her boyfriend: Takeshi Takashi.

Grinning at her, Takeshi stated, "It's about time you woke up."

Kaoru blinked a couple of times, still somewhat half-asleep. "What time is it?"

"It's already six-thirty in the morning. You don't want to be late on the first day back now, do you?"

Narrowing her eyes, Kaoru stated angrily, "You woke me up at _six-thirty._ "

Takeshi nodded eagerly, grinning even more. "Well, you were late last year. You don't wanna make a bad impression on your teachers for this year, do you?"

"I don't give a damn about them," Kaoru replied bluntly. "All I want to do is to sleep. That's it." Kaoru blinked a couple of times before flinching and yelling, "Wait, how the hell are you in my room?!"

As if on cue, both Kaoru's mother and father could be heard from what seems to be the kitchen, judging by the aroma of food.

"HE'S _WHAT?!_ "

"Calm down, dear!"

"BUT HE'S IN—"

"I SAID TO CALM DOWN!"

Silence ensued.

"Yes, dear…"

"Does that answer your question, Kaoru?" Takeshi asked, smirking slightly. "Your mother let me up here while your father was still asleep, so…yeah."

Kaoru merely frowned and rolled her eyes. She _really_ just wanted to go back to sleep right now.

Just as Kaoru was about to fall backwards onto her bed, Takeshi quickly stated while smirking, "If you go back to sleep, I'll drag you to the shower, strip you, and bathe you myself."

Kaoru's eyes went wide at this before she quickly narrowed her eyes at him. "Over my dead body."

Before Takeshi could retort, Kaoru's mother yelled out, "Kaoru, if you don't wake up, I'll have to use _that_ on you!"

Kaoru's eyes immediately went wide open and before anything else could be said, she quickly dashed off to get ready for school and went down the stairs.

At this, Takeshi merely stared at his girlfriend while raising an eyebrow. Shaking his head, he picked his backpack off of the floor before slinging it over his shoulder and heading down the stairs. Just as soon as he got off of the last step, Kaoru grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the door with her. Not even bothering to lock the door, the two dashed off down the street with a slice of bread in Kaoru's mouth.

Kaoru's father's yells could be heard from their distance and at this, Takeshi merely stifled a laugh. When the two found themselves before a crosswalk, Kaoru let go of his hand quickly as she panted to catch her breath.

Takeshi, on the other hand, was raising an eyebrow at his girlfriend in amusement. "Tired already?"

"Shut up," Kaoru retorted, narrowing her eyes at him between her panting.

He chuckled in response and grabbed her hand. As if on cue, the light turned green and Takeshi pulled her along with him so the two would cross the street. Kaoru had finally caught her breath after they crossed it and immediately, she pulled her hand away from his, feeling her face burn up as she headed off to towards in the direction to school.

Takeshi, of course, saw her blush and merely smirked as he went to catch up to her. After doing so, he quickly grabbed a hold of her hand and whispered, "I'm not letting you escape so easily this time, you know."

Kaoru narrowed her eyes at him, fully aware that her cheeks felt completely hot to her. As she felt him tighten his grip, she felt her cheeks grow even hotter and glancing out of the corner of her eye, she saw him smirk even more. Frowning, she silently cursed him out in her head.

The two continued to walk down the sidewalk until Takeshi suddenly stopped. Kaoru stopped as well and looked at him, seeing that his head was fully turned towards a window to his right. Looking at the window as well, she found that it belonged to a shop that sold televisions and that many were on display. Apparently, all of them were on the news.

Kaoru blinked a couple of times and she let go of Takeshi's hand as she went closer to the window. There, a man around in his mid-thirties was sitting and he had his hands folded together, staring intently at the screen.

Sighing gravely, the man stated, _"It seems that last night, five male teenagers died on the outskirts of Tokyo City. So far, it seems that there aren't any suspects since the police cannot get any kind of fingerprints whatsoever in order to determine the culprit. Detectives are currently working in order to find the culprit—or possibly culprits, as the detectives suggested—that may have done this. Families are currently being contacted as we speak. For now, we can only hope the best for these families and may those boys rest in peace."_ The screen then quickly showed pictures of each of the boys individually that showed all of them grinning or smiling.

Kaoru felt her eyes cloud heavily with pity as she continued to look at the screen. Not wanting to see anymore of it, she sighed and turned her head away. Looking at Takeshi, she found that he was staring at the screen with a stern look. Hesitating, she gently tugged on his sleeve and after getting his attention, she stated softly, "Come on. Let's go before Momoko calls me and yells at me to get to school already."

Takeshi grinned back at her and nodded. "But on one condition." When Kaoru raised an eyebrow at him, he grinned even more and added, "Only if you give me a kiss."

His response was none other than Kaoru hitting him hard on the head before stomping off in anger. However, that didn't hide the fact that she was blushing still, so that merely made Takeshi smirk even more. As his girlfriend stomped off into the distance, he turned his head back towards the televisions that continued to show the same anchorman from earlier, who was still talking about the recent deaths of the five teenage boys on the outskirts of Tokyo City.

_"We have just received news from the police department. As of now, it seems to be impossible for the police and detectives to solve the mystery of the culprit—or perhaps culprits—that caused the deaths of these poor, innocent teenage boys. This may unfortunately cause the case to be closed. For now, we can only hope that there won't be any more tragic deaths of teenagers such as these in the future."_

Takeshi merely narrowed his eyes at the man before muttering softly, "Deaths, huh?" Sighing, he frowned before running off in order to catch up with Kaoru.

* * *

Eventually, the two arrived at their high school. Well, actually, it was more like Kaoru was running away from Takeshi, despite their surroundings. In fact, they were currently running around on campus with Takeshi chasing after Kaoru still. Normally, the teachers would intervene, but considering the fact that it was the first day, none of them—students and teachers alike—didn't really want to do anything, considering the fact that summer had officially ended.

"Get away from me, damn it!"

"Kaoru-chan, I just asked for a simple kiss, though!"

"DON'T YOU DARE ADD THAT SUFFIX TO MY NAME!"

"Why not?"

"It makes me sound… _cute_."

"Well, you're cute to me!"

"Shut up and get away from me!"

"Is that seriously something you should say to your own boyfriend?"

"Considering you're it, then _yes!_ "

Meanwhile, a certain orange haired girl with bright pink eyes was staring at the two in disbelief before gently slapping her forehead with the palm of her hand. Her orange hair was tied up in a very high ponytail, which was actually quite long since it reached all the way to her hips and contrasted her pale skin greatly. Sighing, she muttered to herself, "And you'd think that they'd change over the summer…"

"Well, Momoko-san, this _is_ Kaoru-san we're talking about here," a blonde haired girl with light blue eyes stated calmly, even though she too was somewhat in disbelief. Her hair was tied up in twin pig tails that were somewhat curled at their ends, emphasizing her pale skin.

"I know, but I was hoping to see Kaoru's feminine side!" The pink-eyed redhead whined. Sighing, she muttered, "Maybe we should spy on one of their dates, Miyako…"

"Momoko-san, I don't think that's a good idea…"

"Why not?"

Miyako pointed behind them, smiling sheepishly.

Turning around, Momoko flinched immediately, finding that the person that stood before them was none other than Kaoru Matsubara.

Narrowing her eyes at them, Kaoru stated angrily, "Momoko…"

"Hey, you don't show us your feminine side that often!" Momoko quickly replied, holding up her arms in defense. Before she knew it, the redhead felt someone wrap something around her waist. Of course, she was about to yell at the person, but the minute she turned around, she found none other than Takeo Takashi.

Having that trademark of a red cap placed backwards on his cap emphasized the grin apparent on his face. His short orange hair reached to his shoulders and was spiky as ever, having some parts of it come out of the hole in the back of his cap. That tan skin of his was a perfect shade to easily match his hair and his crimson red eyes. Overall, others would obviously view this boy as someone handsome.

Momoko merely smiled even more and wrapped her arms around the boy's neck. "Morning, Takeo-kun!"

Chuckling, Takeo replied, "Morning, my dear Momoko."

Momoko couldn't help but blush and giggle softly at this.

Kaoru, though, merely gagged at it, which caused Miyako to giggle softly as well. Her eye then began to twitch the minute she saw that Miyako's boyfriend, Takumi Takashi, intertwine his fingers with hers.

His blonde hair was as messy as ever and even though Miyako helped straightened out his bangs so his hair wouldn't appear _quite_ as messy, it still looked that way nonetheless. Takumi chuckled, having his eyes lit up with amusement and his response was none other than a pouting Miyako. Though his skin was nowhere near as tan as Takeo's, it was certainly a darker shade than Takeshi's, since he was the palest out of the three. Although Takumi had freckles upon each of his cheeks, that didn't deny the fact that he was also handsome, especially with those blue eyes of his.

"Did you sleep well last night, beautiful?" Takumi asked before chuckling as Miyako continued to pout slightly at him. Receiving a nod for a response, he merely smiled before placing a kiss upon Miyako's forehead.

At this, Kaoru gagged even louder and exclaimed, "You people need to get a freaking room!" Before she could say even more, though, she felt something quickly and gently press against her cheek. Though it was for just a couple of seconds, Kaoru eventually realized what happened and glared darkly, while blushing, of course, at the culprit: Takeshi Takashi—her own boyfriend.

Just like his brothers, Takeo and Takumi, he was handsome. However, his black spiky hair completely contrasted his pale skin, adding a lot of emphasis to his piercing dark green eyes. As much as Kaoru hated to admit it, he was good-looking, but, of course, she'd never admit that to him. If she did, he'd only tease her about it and get even more arrogant, if that was even possible.

Covering her right cheek with the palm of her hand, Kaoru quickly yelled, "Takeshi, what the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Well, you wouldn't give me a kiss, so I gave you one instead," Takeshi replied casually, shrugging as he grinned.

Kaoru narrowed her eyes at him. "That doesn't give you the right to kiss me in public!"

Takeshi pouted slightly and whined, "Not even on the cheek?"

"No!"

Immediately, Takeshi grinned before asking, "So I should kiss you somewhere else then?"

At this, Kaoru flinched and quickly shook her head. Grabbing Momoko and Miyako's hands, she dragged the two off in the opposite direction, yelling at the three brothers that they needed to get their schedules.

Takeshi watched as his girlfriend dragged his brothers' girlfriends with them and couldn't help but laugh at her response. On the other hand, his two brothers, Takeo and Takumi, reacted a bit differently compared to their black haired brother. Takeo was merely shaking his head as he was grinning, clearly showing that he was amused by the scene while Takumi simply snickered softly to himself.

After calming down, Takeshi turned his head in order to face his brothers, having a solemn look on his face. "So, what should we do?"

Immediately, both Takeo and Takumi had grave looks upon their faces. All traces of amusement and laughter were completely gone by now. The two glanced at each other before glancing back at their black haired brother.

"Personally, I don't think it's that big of a problem," Takumi stated, sighing. "For all we know, that could've been some an act of revenge."

"How would you know that?" Takeshi asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I did my research. All of those boys just happened to be from the same high school—and not just any high school. It was one of those private high schools that wealthy people go to. One of them was actually quite a bit of a… _player_ and angered a lot of people, so I wouldn't be surprised at the fact that revenge was the reason."

"Plus, those guys seemed to have been involved with a bunch of other things as well," Takeo added, sighing. "So if anything, it's not really our problem, but…" Immediately, Takeo started narrowing his eyes as he looked at the sky. "Ever since last night, I've been getting a bad feeling, so I don't know if this was just some act of revenge." Facing his brothers once more, he lowered his voice so only his brothers would hear and stated, "Besides, I really doubt anyone would go to the extent of murdering, especially with that amount of people."

"That is a good point," Takeshi muttered.

Takumi then nodded. "Since only one of them caused a lot of people to probably have grudges against him, I really don't think that they'd also go after the others that he hung out with. If you ask me, that's just unnecessary bloodshed."

"And too much work," Takeshi also added, rolling his eyes.

Takeo's eyes then suddenly went wide and his head snapped back down before narrowing his eyes at the ground.

"Dude, what's wrong?" Takeshi asked, raising an eyebrow.

Takumi nodded in agreement. "Yeah, what's the matter?"

"You guys didn't feel that just now?" Takeo stated to them in a low voice.

The other two brothers shook their heads and looked at each other. Immediately, their eyes went wide and they snapped their heads back towards their orange haired brother, frowning immensely.

"It looks like I was right," Takeo muttered. Sighing, he then added, "Look, I'm gonna go find Momoko. You two go find the others and stay with them no matter what." Without even letting a chance for his brothers to reply, he ran off to find his orange haired girlfriend.

Takeshi scoffed and muttered, "He doesn't need to tell me twice." Immediately, his face broke out into a wide grin and he started yelling out Kaoru's name while running off as he tried to look for her.

Takumi, on the other hand, turned around to stare at the gates of the school, finding that everything there seemed normal. Everyone was currently catching up with each other and already, there were groups all around. He glanced around, trying to see if anything seemed abnormal, but having no luck, he frowned slightly in frustration. Sighing, he then ran off to find none other than his girlfriend by the name of Miyako.


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: Okay, so I was a bit late on updating... I lost track of time after I got back into playing some of my old video games and rereading some of my favorite manga. And if that doesn't count an excuse, then, well, there's also the fact that my computer was completely trolling - yes, I said trolling - on me for a couple of days. Eventually, I figured out why... Apparently, my computer was updating. And now, my internet browsers are starting to troll on me as well. Wonderful, isn't it? (Note the sarcasm hinted in my voice.)
> 
> Kaoru: Yes, yes, it is.
> 
> Me: ...Kaoru, you're no fun. I should work on that one-shot idea I had in mind a couple of weeks ago.
> 
> Butch: -smirks- I say you should.
> 
> Me: D'aw, you think so, too? c:
> 
> Kaoru: ...OI. KNOWING YOU AND YOUR MIND, THEN NO!
> 
> Me: D: Fine. I'm only saying that because of this stupid summer heat...
> 
> Kaoru: Thank you, summer heat! 8D
> 
> Me: =3= Well, anyway, enjoy the chapter, people~.

"All right, class, settle down! I know it's the first day back and all—"

At once, the teacher was interrupted by groans from all of the students in the classroom. Surprisingly, Kaoru, Momoko, Miyako, Takeshi, Takeo, and Takumi all had the same homeroom together, which was too much of a coincidence. Though Momoko and Miyako were delighted at hearing they all had homeroom together, Kaoru felt that it was _way_ too weird. She didn't mind having classes with Momoko and Miyako again, but for all six of them to have the same homeroom together? It was too much of a coincidence, but hell, Kaoru couldn't really argue with not wanting them there, even if her own boyfriend had the same homeroom as her.

"Yes, yes, I know; all of you are upset by this. Trust me, even the teachers don't want to be back in school either, but hey, you don't see us complaining."

"That's because you teachers get paid!" a male student shouted out.

The teacher blinked a couple of times. "True, and seeing you all suffer is quite amusing." Once the students groaned in response, he merely grinned and added, "Now, it's time to take attendance, so if you hear your name, just state that you're here."

As the teacher began to call out names, Kaoru felt someone poking her from behind. She frowned and just as soon as she was about to turn around to yell at Momoko, since she sat behind her, she immediately got a note thrown over her shoulder instead.

Glancing at the teacher to make sure he wasn't looking, Kaoru slowly unfolded it underneath her desk.

_Kaoru, did you hear? There's gonna be an intern for this class!_

Kaoru raised an eyebrow. Picking up her pencil, she wrote down, _Momoko, you have a boyfriend by the name of Takeo Takashi. I thought you were over your boy-craziness already._ Folding it back up, she passed it back to Momoko when the teacher wasn't looking.

After a minute or so, Momoko passed it back and thus, Kaoru unfolded it once more. _Kaoru, no one could beat Takeo-kun! And you know as well as I do that I'm over my boy-craziness already!_ At this, Kaoru scoffed softly under her breath. Glancing back, she found that Momoko was glaring at her. Rolling her eyes in response, Kaoru merely continued to read the note. _I just happened to hear the other girls in this class talking about a teacher intern, that's all. And judging of how they're gossiping, the teacher intern's apparently male._

Kaoru wrote back down, _For all we know, he could be in his freaking mid-thirties. First transfer students, now a teacher intern. Our high school life here just seems to be getting weirder and weirder, I swear._ Immediately, Kaoru passed it back to her.

After a minute or so again, Momoko passed it back. Unfolding the note, it said, _High school's like that. I'm only bringing this up because if the teacher intern's hot, then maybe all of the other girls will back off of Takeo-kun!_

Kaoru blinked a couple of times at this and wrote down, _Well, that makes sense, but don't you trust Takeo?_

"Akatsutsumi Momoko," the teacher called out, looking up from his clipboard.

"Here!" Momoko exclaimed, raising her hand while grinning.

Kaoru then passed back the note to Momoko. After a minute, Momoko handed back the note to her and Kaoru unfolded it immediately.

_Of course, I trust him! It's the girls here I don't trust, except for you and Miyako, of course. Did you not see the looks the boys got when they were on campus? And did you not see the glares we got? Wait, knowing you, you probably didn't._

"Damn right, I didn't," Kaoru muttered softly, rolling her eyes. She honestly wasn't the kind of girl that really cared about what others thought of her, so she never really cared or even bothered to glance at any girls that happened to give her glares.

"Gotokuji Miyako," the teacher then called out.

"Present," Miyako replied calmly, raising her hand.

As the teacher continued with roll call, Kaoru sighed and continued reading the note.

_Well, anyway, look, the point is that a teacher intern is coming! If the girls, especially the fan girls, move onto him, then I don't really mind! Besides, even if the teacher intern was hot, no one could beat Takeo-kun!_

Kaoru's eye twitched at the hearts Momoko added at the end near Takeo's name. Resisting the urge to groan, she merely wrote down, _Yeah, okay, I get it. Now stop sending me this note, will you? I don't want to get caught on the first day over something as stupid as this._ Kaoru then passed the note back to Momoko and heard Momoko scoff softly in response to the note. She then rolled her eyes, even though she knew Momoko couldn't see her doing so.

"Matsubara Kaoru," the teacher called out.

"Here," Kaoru replied calmly, raising her hand up.

The teacher continued to call out names and eventually reached the Takashi brothers.

"Takashi Takeo."

At once, Takeo raised his hand before responding, "Here."

"Takashi Takeshi."

Takeshi, on the other hand, gave a small salute to his teacher using two fingers and stated, "Yo."

The teacher rolled his eyes in response and then stated, "Takashi Takumi."

"Present," Takumi stated without raising his hand at all, but instead, nodding his head.

The teacher merely blinked a couple of times at this. "Are you three brothers?" Receiving a nod from all three of them, the teacher merely frowned but shrugged it off before continuing to call out more names.

Sighing, the teacher then placed the clipboard down, indicating that he was finally done with the attendance. Just as he was about to speak, though, there were a couple of knocks on the door.

"You may come in," the teacher stated.

Once the door slid open, in walked none other than a young man. What was shocking, or surprising, was the fact that this man didn't wear a suit or casual clothing. Instead, he wore a black leather vest over a white t-shirt. His black pants showed no sign of creases whatsoever, which hung loosely around his legs and completely matched his black shoes. He even had chains hanging loosely from his white belt. As he continued to stride his way towards the teacher, the sounds of the chains clacking against itself over and over could be heard. His slicked back black hair reached to his shoulders. To top it off, his skin was just pale enough to contrast the black shades he wore and his hair.

Kaoru blinked a couple of times at this man before muttering, "You've _got_ to be kidding me."

In all honesty, the man's look was screaming that of a delinquent's, but that didn't stop from all of the girls except Momoko, Miyako, and Kaoru from giggling. When Kaoru glanced back at Momoko, she found Momoko muttering about succession over and over as she pumped her fist in the air to herself. Resisting the urge to slap her forehead with the palm of her hand, Kaoru then looked at Miyako, who was merely raising an eyebrow at the young man's appearance. She then looked back at the young man in the front of the classroom and couldn't help but sigh and shake her head slightly.

"Didn't we tell you not to dress like that?" the teacher asked before sighing.

"It's the first day," the young man replied, shrugging while grinning. "Come on, loosen up!"

"You are to set an example to students, not show them how to dress improperly like that!"

The young man frowned slightly before lifting up his chains. "Would you prefer I didn't bring this around anymore, then?"

In response, the teacher merely sighed in exasperation. "All right, you win."

The young man grinned even more as he put the chains back onto his belt.

"However, you need to get rid of those shades."

Shrugging, the young man did so and took off his shades. In doing so, his eyes revealed to be none other than a very deep and dark shade of blue. Once the girls of the classroom saw, they merely began having hearts in their eyes—literally.

Kaoru merely gagged softly to herself before muttering, "Oh, great, another pretty boy."

"Hey, you have to admit he's good-looking," Momoko whispered to her. "What do you think, Miyako?"

"Well, I prefer Takumi's eyes over his…" Miyako replied softly, tilting her head.

Kaoru blinked at Miyako. "Well, at least you're not lovestruck like all of the other girls here."

"I'm not lovestruck!" Momoko whispered angrily.

"I didn't mean you, Momoko. If you weren't with Takeo, then you'd be lovestruck immediately."

"Actually, Kaoru, I don't know about that. I mean, something about him kind of…irks me."

"Same here," Miyako added softly, frowning slightly.

"He's a pretty boy," Kaoru whispered as she rolled her eyes. "What do you expect?" Before Kaoru could go on, though, one of the girls in her class shushed all three of them and thus, the trio of friends stayed silent.

"All right, everyone, as you may have heard, this school will be having a teacher intern, and this is him," the teacher stated, rolling his eyes as he gestured towards the young blue-eyed man.

Nodding his head, the young man stated, "The name's Kuro and as your teacher stated, I will be working alongside with all of you for this year. This will be part of my learning expertise as a teacher, so I wish that we will all get along well with one another." The man known as Kuro then smiled, practically causing nearly every girl in the classroom to sigh dreamily.

"Any questions for Kuro?" The teacher asked, raising an eyebrow. Once a bunch of hands shot into the air, the teacher pointed to a girl in the back row.

Standing up, she then asked while blushing, "May I ask how old you are?"

"Twenty," Kuro replied, smiling even more, which made the girl's face turn completely red. "I'm still in university, of course, which means this teaching internship of mine is part of my grade. However, don't hesitate to ask for help if you need anything."

"Do you have to stay in this class for the entire day?" one of the female students shouted out suddenly.

"Actually, no," Kuro replied, grinning. "I have a schedule, just like you guys. Right now, I'm still indecisive about which class I should teach in the future, so you will find me in different classes in certain time periods."

Of course, most of the girls started shouting out more questions to Kuro, but the teacher merely yelled at the class that there wasn't any more time for questions. All of the girls that had their hands up protested, of course, but one glare from the teacher made them shut up. Once Kuro smiled at them, though, the girls started giggling like mad and the teacher merely rolled his eyes at the young man and at his female students.

"Anyway," the teacher began, sighing, "tomorrow, choose your seats wisely because the seat you sit at will be your permanent seat until the end of the school year. Also, if any one of you misbehave, then I'll have no choice but to have to switch seats with someone else, so be careful." As if on cue, the bell rang and the teacher then exclaimed, "Have a nice day, everyone!"

Kuro calmly walked out of the door and, of course, most of the female students followed after him in pursuit. Their overlapping voices and giggling could be heard from the hallway as they continued to follow after Kuro, who seemed completely unfazed at this.

Takeshi, Kaoru, Takeo, Momoko, Takumi, and Miyako walked out the door calmly after Kuro and the crowd of girls following after him were long gone. Kaoru was rolling her eyes while Momoko and Miyako were smiling nervously at this. On the other hand, the Takashi brothers were completely frowning.

Sighing, Kaoru turned around to face Momoko and Miyako. "Alright, let's go, then." She then turned her head to look at Takeshi, who was frowning. "Something the matter, Takeshi?"

He then grinned at her. "Nope, Kaoru-chan."

"Stop using that suffix!"

"Why should I, Kaoru-chan?"

"I told you this morning already!"

"Now, now, no need for the lovebirds to bicker so early in the morning again," Takeo stated, grinning in amusement.

Momoko and Miyako giggled at this statement while Kaoru glared angrily at Takeshi. Of course, they dragged Kaoru away to their next class to prevent her attacking Takeshi and possibly killing him in the process.

Once the trio of friends were away, the Takashi brothers headed down the opposite hallway together, walking side-by-side. Takeo was in the middle with Takeshi on his right and Takumi on his left. Normally, the three of them would've attracted attention, but since most of the hallways were completely cleared, due to Kuro and his crowd of female students, they were walking in silence.

"Takeshi, Takumi," Takeo stated, narrowing his eyes slightly. Once getting his brothers' attentions, he slowed down to a nearby window. Looking out the window, he looked down towards Kuro and his crowd of female students in the front yard of the school. "You two felt that, didn't you?"

"How could we _not?_ " Takeshi replied, grinning.

"Strange of how it disappeared so suddenly," Takumi added while frowning as he stared at Kuro. "Especially since it disappeared the minute that class started."

Takeshi then looked out the window as well while glaring at Kuro. "I don't like that guy. Something about him just pisses me off."

"Same here," his two brothers responded in a cold voice.

Sighing, Takeo then stated, "I think it's best we keep an eye on this Kuro guy."

"Shouldn't we also be keeping an eye on the girls?" Takumi asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We can't do that if their class is in the opposite side of the building," Takeshi replied, frowning. "Whoever made these stupid schedules is an idiot." All of a sudden, he started glaring darkly at Kuro, who was heading into the opposite side of the building they were in. "If that guy _dares_ to do anything to my Kaoru, I will seriously—"

"We all feel the same about him with our girls, okay?" Takeo interrupted, narrowing his eyes at his black haired brother. "For now, though, we can't do anything, except stand back and watch."

Takeshi merely scoffed angrily as he watched Kuro enter through the door with his crowd of female students.

Takeo sighed at his brother's response. "I'll try to find some more information about this Kuro guy. Maybe I can get close enough to get some clues about him."

"I'll try to find more information about those deaths from last night," Takumi stated as he faced his eldest brother. "Just to make sure that it wasn't an act of revenge taken too far."

"Then I guess I'll be the one that's mainly gonna keep any eye on him," Takeshi said before frowning and adding sarcastically, "Well, that's just great…"

"Come on, you two," Takeo began as he pat his brothers' shoulders. "Let's head to class before we're late."

The trio of brothers glanced at the opposite side of the building once more through the window before walking down the hallway side-by-side to their next class.


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: And once again, I'm late on updating. Sorry about that, guys! I've been really busy lately since I'm taking college courses now. I would've updated this probably a week earlier, since I had this done probably about two weeks ago, but I never had the time to actually go and update. This was...mainly due to the fact that I was trying to adjust myself to my college classes, since they started last week. I was thinking about updating over the weekend, but I decided not to because I ended up being busy and I just recovered from getting sick. Trust me on this when I say that I feel terrible when I'm sick - and crappy, if I may add. My body was so being bipolar, I swear... Sore throat, sniffles/slight sore throat, hangover, headache, stomachache... It was just plain absurd :|
> 
> Kaoru: ...You done yet? -_-
> 
> Me: Yes, yes, I am. I NEEDED TO EXPLAIN MY REASON FOR TAKING SO LONG D:
> 
> Butch: Kaoru-chan, let's try not to delay the chapter anymore, hm? c:
> 
> Kaoru: DON'T LUMP MY NAME TOGETHER WITH THAT HONORIFIC. =_=
> 
> Butch: But you sound so cute~ c:
> 
> Me: OKAY, moving on - before Kaoru possibly ends up chasing Butch - enjoy the chapter, folks! 8D

"Kuro-san!"

"Please teach me this!"

"Kuro-kun!"

"Eh?! You have no right to call him that!"

"I have most of my classes with him, though, so we're _obviously_ close!"

"What?!"

And so, the bickering among the Kuro fan girls began.

Kaoru, who had been watching and listening throughout the entire time with Momoko and Miyako, sighed at this. The three best friends were sitting at a table with their lunches before them, but they were almost already done with their food. Momoko, having a big appetite as ever, brought two lunches with her; one of them as her "main" lunch and the other as a "snack." Of course, the "snack" lunch was mainly full of sweets, but Momoko being herself, she was already almost done with it.

"I still don't get why they're obsessing over him so much," Kaoru muttered, rolling her eyes as the Kuro fan girls continued to bicker amongst themselves.

"Kaoru, he's a hot teacher intern," Momoko replied, finishing the last of her sweets. "You know as well as I do that a hot guy will always have tons of girls chasing after him, _especially_ if he's single."

"Is he even single?" Miyako then asked, frowning slightly in thought.

"Seeing of how these girls are, most likely."

Kaoru grinned slightly. "Says the girl that used to be completely boy-crazy."

"Yeah, before Takeo-kun came into the picture!" Momoko exclaimed, slightly glaring at Kaoru with pink cheeks. "Takeo-kun is awesome, okay? He's a gentleman and—"

"I don't wanna hear it!" Kaoru suddenly yelled, covering her ears with her hands.

In response, Momoko narrowed her eyes at Kaoru.

"Now, now, you two," Miyako stated as she finished the last of her meal. "Don't start arguing."

Immediately, Momoko pouted. "Kaoru started it, though!"

Kaoru quickly uncovered her ears, frowning immensely. "Hey, I wasn't the one that was gonna drone on and on about her own boyfriend."

Once again, Momoko responded with a glare.

As Miyako began to remind them to not start arguing, the trio didn't notice that a person was approaching them. At once, the bickering of the fan girls began to cease immediately. When the trio suddenly stopped at the sound of that person clearing their voice, they turned their heads immediately to look at the source.

It was none other than Kuro.

Smiling, Kuro began, "Excuse me, ladies."

Kaoru merely raised an eyebrow at Kuro, not wanting to even respond. Her light green eyes were full of indifference as she continued to stare at the intern. She honestly didn't understand why so many girls seemed to be attracted to him. In her opinion, she found Kuro to be a bit of weird person. Instead of acting arrogant with the amount of girls following him, he, instead, completely acted it off as though it was natural and merely smiled it off. Something about that didn't make Kaoru like Kuro—at all.

Momoko, on the other hand, was staring at Kuro with a questioning look. Sure, she found the man to be attractive, which was understandable why so many girls were into him. The fact that he was so close to their age practically screamed: "Forbidden romance between teacher and student" to her. She was sure that many other girls saw it this way as well, especially since for an intern, Kuro was good-looking. But even so, something about him irked her. She didn't understand why, so she continued to stare at him in silence.

Miyako, seeing of how the other two of the trio won't respond, merely sighed softly to herself before asking politely, "Yes?"

Kuro continued to smile at the girls before stating, "Well, I was wondering if you girls could show me around?"

"Shouldn't you know the school by now, though?" Kaoru retorted, narrowing her eyes slightly.

"Kaoru-san, no need to be so rude," Miyako whispered.

"She has a point, though," Momoko added, pondering slightly. "Why ask us to show you around?"

Kuro glanced at his fan girls out of the corner of his eye. Lowering his voice to a mere whisper so only the three girls would hear, he stated, "As much as I don't mind all of these girls around me, it's a nice change to have those that don't—"

"Annoy you nearly every single second?" Kaoru interrupted, rolling her eyes.

He smiled as his eyes glinted with amusement. A chuckle escaped from his lips before replying, "It's not because they annoy me. I was going to say that it's better for someone that's calm to show me around compared to a group of people that get easily distracted by my presence."

Kaoru blinked a couple of times, narrowing her eyes at the black haired twenty year old that looked like a delinquent. Momoko, on the other hand, just stared at Kuro, completely dumbfounded at the man. Miyako, though, simply tilted her head while smiling nervously.

"So," Kuro began, smiling still. "Could you girls show me around?"

The trio of girls each glanced at each other. Kaoru's look practically screamed at the other two that they shouldn't do it, but Miyako being, well, herself, and Momoko not seeing the problem, Kaoru's look was completely ignored as the pink-eyed redhead and the light blue-eyed blonde nodded at Kuro in response. Kaoru rolled her eyes at this, but grunted in defeat.

Kuro merely continued to smile. "Why thank you, ladies."

The three girls began to stand up and so, Kuro followed the three girls as they began to show the new teacher intern around.

Meanwhile, though, a certain spiky black haired male with dark green eyes and pale skin was _not_ very happy about this. This, of course, was none other than Takeshi Takashi. He was staring angrily at Kuro, having his eyes narrowed dangerously at the teacher intern. In fact, he didn't like the fact that Kuro asked his girlfriend and his brothers' girlfriends to show him around. If anything, he didn't understand _why_ Kaoru even bothered to show him around! He thought that maybe she would reject his offer, but _no_. Instead, she went along with it!

He continued to grimace as he watched the four figures leave the cafeteria through the other doorway, leaving him standing by the other one that was all the way across the room alone. Sighing angrily, he muttered, "I can't believe I actually have to stand back and watch my girlfriend practically get whisked away by this freaking pretty boy."

"Hey Takeshi."

Takeshi didn't even bother to turn around, since he already knew who the person was. "Yeah, Takeo?"

Lowering his voice, Takeo replied, "We got some new information." Blinking a couple of times, Takeo looked around the cafeteria while frowning. "Where's that intern?"

Takeshi scoffed darkly while grimacing. "He left with the girls."

"Please tell me that you didn't do anything."

"I haven't _yet_."

Takeo sighed in relief and nodded at his brother in the other direction. "Come on, then."

Takeshi frowned. "What about the girls? You know as well as I do that—"

"I know that, but right now, the three of us need to analyze this information _together_. Takumi and I don't like this as much as you do, but if Kaoru's with them, then everything will be all right."

Takeshi frowned, but nodded nonetheless. "Lead the way, then."

Nodding in response, Takeo then led Takeshi in the other direction without a word exchanged between the two for a while, letting their footsteps echo in the empty hallway they were heading down.

Takeshi sighed before deciding to break the silence. "All right, so where are you taking me?"

"Where else?"

Takeshi blinked as he and his brother came to a halt before the school library. Narrowing his eyes, he whispered, "You have _got_ to be kidding me."

"Would you rather discuss it out in the open?" Takeo retorted in a low voice, raising an eyebrow. Seeing of how Takeshi didn't respond, he then added, "I thought so. Now, come on." Without letting his black haired brother respond, he walked inside the library.

Takeshi frowned and rolled his eyes before following his elder brother inside the library as well. The library at their school was probably the most obvious place ever to discuss something secretive. However, most teenagers these days prefer to go to the library to study, research, work on their school work, or even go on the computer to surf the web. Well, aside from the huge amounts of books and bookshelves in the library. In fact, the library had at least two floors full of novels ranging from fiction to nonfiction. Since the bookshelves were so huge and tall, it wasn't that hard to spread rumors.

Now Takeshi, unlike his elder brother Takeo and his younger brother Takumi, didn't really like the library that much. This was due to the fact that he was kicked out multiple times by the librarian for being so "loud." (He blames Kaoru for this, since their arguments and bickering would eventually lead to the two getting kicked out.) So overall, he basically was detested by the librarian. Well, perhaps not detested, but disliked, compared to his other brothers.

When Takeshi walked past the librarian, he received a glare and a look that basically said: "I'm watching you." Takeshi, of course, rolled his eyes at this and continued to walk on by and up the stairs, still following Takeo.

After reaching the top of the steps, Takeshi narrowed his eyes at his elder brother. "Out of all of the places you had to choose…"

"Hey, it's your fault for being on bad terms with the librarian," Takeo retorted as he went down an aisle of bookshelves.

Takeshi frowned, but continued to follow him nonetheless. "For the record, it's Kaoru's fault for screaming and yelling inside a library."

"And for the record, it's your fault for bothering her to the point of where she's screaming and yelling."

Takeshi scoffed. "I don't _just_ bother her."

"I'm pretty sure flirting with her and going to the extent of trying to touch her private areas count as bothering her," Takeo replied dryly.

"It's not if she secretly enjoys it," Takeshi retorted under his breath. "Smart ass."

"Heard that."

Takeshi scoffed once more, rolling his eyes. Eventually, the two were before a table in the corner of the top floor of the library. Takeshi raised an eyebrow at this, but didn't bother to make a comment about it. Sitting at one of the chairs was none other than his youngest brother out of the Takashi brothers, Takumi Takashi.

Seeing his brothers approach the table, Takumi's blank face broke out into a grin. "It's about time you two showed up."

"Whatever," Takeshi replied, rolling his eyes once more. "Can we get straight to the point here, so I can make sure that stupid teacher intern isn't trying to make a move on Kaoru?"

Takeo then narrowed his eyes at his black haired brother.

Takeshi raised his hands up in defense as he went to go sit down across from Takumi. "All right, I get it. I'll shut up."

Sighing, Takeo then pulled a chair that was next to Takumi to the other end of the table, so he'd be facing his two younger brothers. "All right, then. Let's get straight to the point: Kuro isn't to be trusted."

"Of course he isn't. He was—"

Takeo cut him off with a glare.

Takeshi frowned, but closed his mouth anyway.

"Anyway," Takumi began, not wanting either of his brothers to start arguing. Lowering his voice, Takumi continued on, "The murderer hasn't been confirmed."

"You mean the deaths?" Takeshi asked, raising an eyebrow.

Takumi nodded. "From what I've gathered, the murderer couldn't have done it out of revenge whatsoever. The bodies were practically covered entirely in blood and were ruined to the point of where only they could only identify the faces of the teens. And it turns out that player I told you about this morning ended up having a hole in his stomach. But you know what I find the most puzzling of all?"

Both Takeshi and Takeo raised an eyebrow at him.

Takumi sighed. "Remember when I told you guys about the teenagers that died were all friends?"

His elder brothers nodded.

"Well," Takumi began, frowning. "It turns out that only _four_ of them were close friends."

"Then who's the fifth one?" Takeo asked.

"Probably some stalker fan girl of that player," Takeshi replied, rolling his eyes.

"Actually, that's not the case," Takumi stated calmly. "The fifth one was actually a male, if you remember from the news. From what I gathered, the boy had feelings for one of the player's fan girls—his number one fan girl, to be exact. Since she has feelings for him only, the boy was probably only there to try to report the player and his friends somehow, if they were doing anything illegal. So, what I'm assuming is that he witnessed them getting killed by this unknown murderer and he somehow got caught."

"Great; the only witness ends up being dead," Takeshi commented dryly, rolling his eyes while frowning.

"Well, it was either that or he got caught first before the quartet of friends got killed."

"That's nice to know and all, but did you get any information whatsoever on the murderer?" Takeo asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Unfortunately, no," Takumi replied, frowning before sighing. "It's as though he killed them and disappeared without a trace."

"All right, I'll try looking into it, then."

"Which reminds me," Takeshi began, looking at his elder brother. "What'd you dig up on Kuro?"

"Not much," Takeo replied before sighing. "He's a teacher intern at our school and this is his first internship. He currently doesn't have a job nor has he ever had one. His parents are pretty much unknown, so any hopes on trying to track down his family tree has gone down the drain. As for his record, well, it's pretty much clean."

"Pretty boy delinquent is someone that's clean?" Takeshi asked, frowning. "I don't buy that."

"Neither do I, unless he's simply just wearing the part for his own amusement," Takumi added.

"He could've done that," Takeo responded, frowning.

"So what now?" Takeshi asked, grimacing. "We have no leads whatsoever. We had a witness, but that obviously went down the drain since he's _dead_. And as for that intern, he's pretty much clean. I don't buy that at all. A guy like him should have at least something on his record."

"Just because it isn't recorded doesn't mean that he's still isn't suspicious," Takeo retorted, narrowing his eyes at his black haired brother.

Both of his brothers looked at him in confusion.

Sighing, Takeo stated, "Look, I just haven't found enough information on him _yet_. I need more time."

"And while you continue to do that, he's off possibly flirting with our girlfriends," Takeshi retorted coldly.

"Which is why we had you keep an eye on him," Takeshi replied, narrowing his eyes once more. "You should be trying to look for information while you do so as well."

"Yeah, but _from a distance_."

"Then try getting a little closer to him," Takumi suggested. "They say to keep your friends close, but your enemies even closer."

Takeo nodded. "Indeed. So we'll leave that up to you."

Takeshi sighed heavily. "All right, but if he makes a move on any of the girls, _especially_ Kaoru—"

"You can't hurt him, you know."

"Can I _at least_ threaten him?"

" _No._ "

Takeshi groaned. "Then, what _can_ I do?!"

"Only interfere when necessary."

"So if he's flirting with my girl, I have to stand back and watch."

Takeo then began to stand up and merely shrugged before giving his brother a lazy grin. "Like I said, only interfere when necessary."

Takeshi couldn't help but smirk slightly. "Why didn't you just say that from the start, then?"

Takeo's grin quickly disappeared. "Takeshi, look, I know that you're protective of Kaoru—and believe me, you know that Takumi and I feel the same way about our girls—but learn to _use your brain_. Don't let your emotions cloud your judgment." Just as he was about to walk away, Takeo then added, "Oh, and be careful around Kuro. Don't trust the guy."

Scoffing, Takeshi replied, "Knew that already. Never trusted him from the start."

Takumi, though, simply nodded in response.

Having a solemn look on his face, Takeo then walked away, leaving his two brothers in silence.

Takeshi then frowned. "Figured that he'd say something like that."

"He has a point," Takumi stated, getting up.

"Oh, come on, I don't need a lecture from _you_ ," Takeshi retorted, narrowing his eyes at Takumi.

"I'm not going to lecture you, but I _am_ going to say that you should be careful around Kuro," Takumi stated.

"Takeo said that already."

"Yes, but he has a good reason for saying that. Knowing Takeo, he's probably hiding something again."

"Something important, most likely."

Takumi nodded. "If I find anything else, I'll be sure to tell you guys after school." Without letting his older brother respond, he then left him alone at the table.

Takeshi, sighing heavily, then slowly stood up before looking at the clock, seeing that there were five minutes left before lunch would end. Heading over to the railing of the second floor, he watched his elder brother, Takeo, walk out of the library. Frowning, he muttered to himself, "Just what are you thinking about, Takeo?"

* * *

"So, tell me, girls," Kuro began as the four of them continued down the hallway.

They had just walked up a pair of stairs with Miyako mainly showing Kuro around. Momoko, of course, pointed out some things, such as the library and certain teachers' classrooms. Kaoru, on the other hand, was completely silent and practically glaring at anyone that they passed by. The lunch period was about three minutes away from ending. Right now, Miyako and Momoko were showing him the classrooms of where he had to go on his schedule.

"Yes?" Miyako responded politely.

Momoko, who didn't hear what Kuro just said, simply continued on, "To put it bluntly, the rooms are organized by hundreds. You know, rooms between one hundred and two hundred are on the first floor, those between two hundred and under three hundred are on the second floor—"

"I think he gets the point, Momoko," Kaoru interrupted, narrowing her eyes at her orange haired friend as a sign to tell her to be quiet already.

Momoko responded with a slight pout.

Kuro continued to smile as his walking quickly halted. "I was wondering if—"

As if on cue, the bell suddenly rang.

"Well, would you look at that?" Kaoru began, not even bothering to hide her grin. "It's time to head to class!" Without letting Kuro reply, she quickly grabbed Miyako and Momoko's wrists before dashing off to their next class.

Kuro, who was staring at this scene, was completely dumbfounded before breaking out into a grin. As he turned around and headed back down the stairs to his next class, he said to himself, "Who knew this school had such interesting people?" His grin grew even more while he continued to walk down the stairs. "Looks like this school will _definitely_ entertain me for quite a while."


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone! So, you'll see that I haven't touched this fanfic in a very long time, and this is mainly because, well... I just have little to no motivation to work on this. The only reason I actually managed to finally update this was because when I originally created the poll on my profile, only two people voted before the deadline, which was December 12th, and those two people voted for this fanfic.
> 
> So, I decided to work on this.
> 
> I'm not into doing the role-playing (RP for short) before (and after) chapters anymore. I grew out of that a long time ago, and if you've known me for a very long time, then you would've realized this already. Please understand this. I just find RP notes before and after chapters completely annoying and redundant now, so, as a result, I'm not going to do this for the following chapters of Secretive Curse anymore. (Maybe you guys might miss it, but I sure as hell don't.)
> 
> Oh, also, because I always did about five pages per chapter back then with Secretive Curse, I'm going to keep it at that pace until I randomly hit a chapter that I end up writing more than I intend.
> 
> I also had half of this chapter typed up a long time ago, but again, because I never had motivation to work on this, it's just been collecting dust in my fanfiction folder. Because of those two people who actually voted before the deadline, I managed to finally get off my butt and work on this, so if you want to thank anyone, thank those two people who voted on the poll for this fanfic.
> 
> If you guys ever want any updates on how I'm doing with my fanfics, the best way is to just look at my FanFiction profile. I'm not kidding. The statuses of all of my ongoing fanfics are on there, and any updates on myself, such as if I'm too busy, if I'm on break, if I'm back in school, or anything along those lines, will also be on there. If you have any questions besides the statuses of my ongoing fanfics, feel free to hit me up with a PM. Otherwise, if you hit me up with a PM that asks me when I'll update one of my ongoing fanfics, I might seem annoyed at you. (And I apologize if I do, but I'm the kind of person who doesn't like to repeat what I've already said, even if it's to a different person each time, so please don't hold this against me.)
> 
> If you guys want me to update Secretive Curse again, you still have time. I kept the poll open even after the deadline, and it's gonna be kept open until I'm back in school, which is January 5th.
> 
> Sorry about the long author's note, but I felt like I needed to get all of this out of the way since it's been more than two years since I've updated this.
> 
> Well, anyway, enjoy the chapter! And thanks for your voting and feedback, guys!

A beautiful teenage girl stared at the sight before her. Her pupils completely dilated as the reality began to sink into her head.

This… It just _couldn't_ be.

It was only five minutes. She was only late by five minutes. She told them to wait just a bit longer. They were going to a mixer, after all. They were finally going to escape that stuffy private all-girls school they went to and maybe finally meet someone special.

So, why?

"No…"

 _Why_ did this happen?!

Bruised bodies of her best friends laid right in front of her in this dark alley. Eyes turned backward into a complete white, blood tricking out of their mouths, and a large puddle of blood was underneath each body. The blood stained the cement and their clothes, flowing slowly outward as the bodies continued to bleed.

And bleed.

And _bleed_.

Until finally, she couldn't take it anymore and screamed.

* * *

"Damn it, we're too late!"

"Butch, shut your trap," Takeo replied.

"Screw that," Takeshi whispered harshly back. "We're on the rooftop—" He cut himself off when he saw that Takumi was doing _something_ as he leaned over the railing of the rooftop. "What the—Boomer, what the hell are you doing?"

"Taking pictures of the crime scene," Takumi replied. His cell phone was out as he continued to snap pictures of the bloodied bodies from the rooftop.

Takeshi immediately rushed over, and he stared blankly at the bodies that were a long distance below. As the sobs and screams of the teenage girl continued, people began to crowd around the area to figure out what was the commotion.

Takeshi blinked his green eyes and grimaced as he looked at Takumi. "You _do_ realize that we're too high up, right?"

"There's a zoom in feature on my cell phone's camera, though."

"It'd still be blurry as hell. Did you even think about how dark the alley is right now?"

Takumi blinked a few times as he immediately stopped taking photos. "Oh, yeah."

Takeshi groaned softly.

"So, why are we using our Rowdyruff names?" Takumi asked. "I thought we weren't ever gonna use them again."

Takeshi shrugged. "How should I know?" He nodded his head to Takeo. "Ask what's-his-face over there."

Both of the brothers immediately looked at Takeo, who was apparently on a cell phone—one they didn't recognize. They raised an eyebrow at each other as they continued to listen in on their brother's words.

"Okay… Yes, thank you."

And immediately, Takeo hung up before he shoved the cell phone inside his pocket.

Takeshi frowned. "So, you mind telling us who the hell you called at this time?"

"The police."

Both brothers' eyes widened in response.

"Don't worry. It's anonymous. This is a disposable cell phone, anyway, so they can't track us." Takeo paused, and before Takeshi and Takumi knew it, their red-haired brother was already lost in his world of mumbles.

Takeshi and Takumi glanced at each other before they headed towards Takeo. Sirens were already heard in the distance, and the commotion became louder.

Ignoring it, Takeshi began snapping his fingers in front of Takeo's face. "Hey, hey, hey. If you're onto something, don't leave us out of it, like you always do."

"If it's about the pictures, I can try sneaking a closer shot," Takumi added. "You know, just to not get that blurriness."

Takeo shook his head. "It's not that."

"Then what?"

"We don't need the photos."

Takumi blinked a few times before he frowned and muttered, "But, you told me to take photos…"

"I know, I know. Sorry about that," Takeo replied. "It's just that…"

"Just what?"

"Well, this murder… Something about it doesn't feel right."

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Takeshi asked as he grimaced.

Takeo narrowed his eyes. "Don't you two feel it?"

"Feel what—"

"Just shut up, close your eyes, and concentrate."

Takeshi and Takumi glanced at each other in uncertainty.

"Just do it," Takeo hissed.

"Okay, fine, jeez," Takeshi muttered.

Takumi sighed as he rolled his eyes.

Both brothers immediately calmed down and closed their eyes. A moment of silence passed before the two opened their eyes. And this time, the two of them were frowning.

Takumi furrowed his eyebrows. "It can't be…"

"It is," Takeo replied, scowling.

"That isn't possible," Takeshi retorted as he narrowed his eyes. "Brick, we lost that guy _miles_ away from Tokyo City. There's no way in hell—"

"And yet, it's him," Takeo interrupted. "I don't like this any more than you do, but I'm telling you that it's definitely him. He's _somewhere_ in this city, and we have no way of tracking him down." His scowl deepened.

The sirens got louder as the boys went into a long pause of silence.

"No, no, _no!_ " they heard the girl scream.

"Please," they heard a police officer begin. "You must—"

"I don't want to leave them! _No!_ "

As the commotion became even louder, Takeshi frowned. "So what the hell should we do now?"

Takeo narrowed his eyes at the commotion before he flinched.

Takumi noticed this. "Brick, what's—"

Takeo shushed him. " _He's_ here. Let's go—"

A dark chuckle interrupted Takeo. "Well, well, well, look what I've found here."

" _Shit_ ," Takeo muttered.

"Cursing's unlike you, Brick."

The boys turned around, and their eyes widened.

"I knew it!" Takeshi hissed.

"Butch, not now," Takeo growled.

"No, I knew it! I _knew_ something was off about you—"

" _Butch_ —"

And at that moment, a police officer screamed, "Hey, men, I think I heard something from the rooftops!"

Takumi's eyes widened. "Uh, guys, I think we need to flee, like, _now_."

Takeshi scowled. "Oh, no, not until I get to—"

" _Butch_ ," Takeo interrupted.

Takeshi glanced at him.

"Not. Now."

"But—"

Takeo narrowed his eyes.

"Men!" the same police officer yelled. "Up there!"

"Hey, don't tell me you're just going to run away," the person said with a dark smile. "We finally got reunited."

Takeo glared at him. He then glanced at both of his brothers and nodded.

Takeshi looked reluctant and angry, while Takumi nodded back in response. After seeing Takumi nod, Takeshi nodded as well, and at once, they ran off in different directions.

* * *

Peach immediately woke up, and he sniffed the air. His face grew pale. "B-Black aura…"

Slowly, Ken woke up as well. "Peach…" He yawned. "What's the matter?"

"Black aura, da wan."

Ken blinked a few times before his eyes widened. "What?!"

"Black aura, da wan! I sensed it!"

"But, Peach—"

"I sensed it!" And then, Peach's eyes widened. "W-Wait, it's gone now."

Ken frowned. "Maybe it was a false alarm?"

"No! I sensed it, da wan!"

"Peach—"

"I sensed it!"

Ken sighed. "Okay, we'll tell Papa—I mean, the Professor in the morning."

"And the girls, too, da wan," Peach muttered.

Ken sighed again. "Yeah. Them, too. Let's go back to sleep, okay?"

Peach opened his mouth to say more, but Ken quickly went back to sleep. Peach frowned, and he did his best to go back to sleep. However, Peach knew that he couldn't ignore that anxious feeling he felt about that black light he detected.

And it only grew the more he thought about that mysterious black light detection.

* * *

Takeshi arrived home last, and he saw his two brothers in the living room. He scowled as he closed and locked the door behind him. "So, what the hell do we do now?"

Takeo frowned, and he glanced away.

"Hey, hey, hey, you better not—"

"I'm not leaving you guys out of anything. I'm thinking, damn it."

"Well, think faster!"

"Guys," Takumi began. "Maybe we should think about this in the morning?"

"How is that going to help, Boomer?"

Takumi frowned. "I'm _just_ saying that—"

"'Saying,' my ass! That's not going—"

"The two of you, shut it!" Takeo snapped.

And at once, Takeshi and Takumi closed their mouths.

"Now's not the time to argue," Takeo said as he frowned. "We need to figure out what to do— _fast_."

"Maybe we should leave?" Takumi asked.

"And leave the girls?" Takeshi retorted.

"I'm sure they'd understand—"

"How the hell are they going to understand? They don't know we're the Rowdyruffs!"

"Well, maybe we should _tell_ them—"

"No, we're not doing that," Takeo interrupted, narrowing his eyes.

"Agreed," Takeshi added.

"Why not?" Takumi asked. "We've been with them for a long while now—"

"Boomer," Takeo began. "I'm going to ask you some questions."

Takumi frowned. "Ques—"

"Why are we the way we are now?" Takeo exclaimed as he glared at Takumi, who flinched.

Takeshi opened his mouth.

"I'm asking _Boomer_ ," Takeo snapped as he glared at Takeshi.

Takeshi then closed his mouth and frowned.

Takumi sighed. "Because of the monkey."

"Why did we leave that stupid house?"

"Because we couldn't control our new powers."

"And what did we discover?"

"That we change every full moon."

"And whose fault is it?"

"The monkey's," Takumi replied, and he frowned before he asked, "What does this have anything to do—"

"Why did we come back?" Takeo interrupted.

"Huh?"

" _Why_ did we come back?" Takeo repeated as he scowled.

Takumi frowned.

"Boomer."

Takumi sighed. "We came back because we could handle our powers now."

"And what else?"

"To find out who the Powerpuff Girls Z were."

"And what were we going to do from there?"

"Get closer to them."

"And what was our plan afterward?"

Takumi hesitated.

Takeo narrowed his eyes. "Boomer."

Takumi looked away.

" _Boomer!_ "

"I don't want to say it!" Takumi exclaimed.

"I don't care if you don't want to say it! Answer the damn question!"

Takumi swallowed— _hard_ —before he finally replied, "Get rid of the girls."

"Good. You remember the plan."

"But—"

"We're _sticking_ with that plan, and I hope that you didn't forget one single _bit_ of it," Takeo snapped as he glared at Takumi. When he saw Takumi hesitate, he narrowed his eyes. "Boomer, don't tell me you _actually_ fell for Bubbles."

Takumi didn't respond.

"Boomer," Takeo growled.

"So what if I did?" Takumi retorted.

Takeo scowled. "That wasn't part of the plan—"

"I don't care if it's not part of the plan! I care about her!"

"Do you even remember that humiliation they gave us? At all?!"

"I do, but—"

"Then we're sticking with the plan!"

"No, I refuse!"

" _Boomer!_ "

Takumi turned his head to look at Takeshi, who was at the fridge and had just grabbed the orange juice carton. "Butch, you need to back me up on this."

Takeshi blinked a few times, and he frowned. "Don't involve me in this, man."

"You _are_ involved," Takumi retorted.

"Look—"

"Don't you at least admit that a part of you cares about Buttercup?"

Takeshi frowned.

"Don't you?!"

"Dude, calm down—"

" _Don't you?!_ "

Takeshi glanced at Takeo, who glared at him. He sighed, and he replied, "I honestly couldn't care less about that girl."

Takumi narrowed his eyes. "That's a lie. I _know_ that's a lie—"

"No, it's the damn truth," Takeshi interrupted as he looked at his blond brother straight in the eyes.

"But you _always_ acted—"

"Yeah, 'acted,'" Takeshi interrupted again. "As in I never cared about that girl."

"You were protective of her at school, though!"

"Yeah, and now, I know why," Takeshi retorted calmly.

"But—"

"Look, the only reason why I'm so 'protective' of her is because of one reason."

Takumi frowned.

"And that's because if anyone is going to beat that tomboy's ass, it's going to be me," Takeshi said as he grinned darkly. A sadistic glint could be seen from the corner of his eyes, and he chuckled. "Gotta admit that she's fun to mess with, though."

Takumi scowled, and he looked at Takeo. "And you? You don't care about Blossom?"

"I don't care about Blossom," Takeo replied. "Like Butch said, it's just an act."

"You guys just 'acted' like you cared and loved them for a year, then? That's _seriously_ the crap you're giving me?" Takumi retorted angrily. "Even though I can _clearly_ remember Butch saying he liked Buttercup back then?!"

"Like I said, it was an act," Takeshi said as he shrugged. "But, I do admit that she's fun to mess with."

Takeo, on the other hand, simply stared at Takumi.

"I can't believe this," Takumi grumbled.

"Well, believe it, and we're sticking with the plan," Takeo said, and when he saw Takumi open his mouth to interrupt, Takeo added, "And that's _final_."

Takumi scowled, and he looked away.

Takeshi put the carton back in the fridge, and he frowned. "Uh, Brick?"

"What?" Takeo asked as he turned his head to look at Takeshi.

Takeshi glanced at Takumi, who was still looking away, and he looked at Takeo. "The plan doesn't have anything to do with that guy, though."

"It does."

Takeshi furrowed his eyebrows. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm saying that it does."

Takeshi frowned. "You're leaving us out of the loop again, aren't you?"

"I'm not."

"You damn liar."

"I said I'm not."

"Then tell us your damn plan to deal with that guy already."

"It's simple," Takeo said before he smirked darkly. "We'll just get rid of him with the girls."


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I hurt you with the previous chapter? (I hope I did because that's my job as a writer, and judging by the previous chapter's reviews, I definitely did.)
> 
> If you've been following me on Tumblr, then you'd know that I said I'd be updating Secretive Curse today, and, well, here I am with the update. According to the poll on my FanFiction profile (at this point in time), Secretive Curse is still winning. (This is good news for you guys because this means I'll be focusing on Secretive Curse until one of the other options beats it!)
> 
> Also, I kinda overshot it with this chapter. (Oops.) Instead of 5 pages, it's actually 7 pages, so you guys get to enjoy an extra 2 pages. There's also a chance that future chapters will be longer from now on and vary in length, so look forward to that!
> 
> Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

"This is bullshit, right?"

Professor Utonium cleared his throat, and he gave Kaoru a stern look.

Kaoru smiled sheepishly. "Uh, I mean, you're pulling our leg, right?"

"Unfortunately, I'm not," Utonium replied.

Momoko, Miyako, and Kaoru had arrived at Professor Utonium's house at around 5 A.M. The trio were tired, and they were reluctant to get out of their beds until Utonium told them it was an urgent emergency.

"And here I thought it was because Ken needed us to open a pickle jar or something," Kaoru muttered as she rolled her eyes.

"No, no, Ken's asleep right now," Utonium replied, and he nodded to Peach beside him. "Peach was the one who woke me up, actually."

"Anyway, was there really black light last night, Professor?" Miyako asked, an unconvinced look on her face.

Before Utonium could reply, Peach exclaimed, "There was, da wan! I felt it!"

Kaoru frowned. "Yeah, but there hasn't been any sort of activity—"

"I felt it! I felt it, da wan! I know I felt it!"

"Okay, okay, we get it! But—"

"I felt it, da wan!"

Kaoru sighed, and she noticed that Momoko had been silent the entire time. "Momoko?"

Momoko, who was deep in thought until now, ignored Kaoru as she bent down to look at Peach face to face. "Say, Peach, when exactly did you detect the black light?"

Peach blinked as he tried to remember. When he couldn't, he frowned and looked at the floor.

Miyako raised an eyebrow. "Momoko-san, I thought it was clear that it was last night."

"I know, but I'm talking specifically when," Momoko replied. "Well, Peach?"

Peach still stayed silent.

"Does the time really matter?" Kaoru asked as she raised an eyebrow.

Ignoring Kaoru, Momoko asked instead, "Have you two watched the news yet at all?"

"Of course not."

"Miyako?"

Miyako shook her head.

Momoko sighed. "There was another group murder last night."

Both girls' eyes widened as they exclaimed, "What?!"

"Yeah. I mean, black light detection _and_ a group murder? Something tells me that this isn't just a coincidence."

"That might explain why there hasn't been much evidence," Utonium muttered.

"Wait, you know something, Professor?"

"Well, the mayor contacted me just before you girls arrived. He asked me if Peach detected anything last night. I don't know much about the case, but Momoko could be on the right track."

"Okay, so let's just hunt down wherever that black light came from," Kaoru said.

"It's not possible, da wan," Peach muttered.

The girls looked at Peach in confusion.

Peach lifted his head. "I don't detect it anymore, da wan."

"What?!" the girls exclaimed.

"I felt it one minute, and the next, the black aura was gone. Ken said maybe it was a false alarm, da wan…"

"Well, that's just great," Kaoru grumbled sarcastically.

Just then, everyone heard a vibration coming from somewhere.

Miyako smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry, everyone. That's my phone." She took out her phone and saw that there was a new message.

"Anyway, does that mean we gotta wait?" Kaoru asked.

"I guess so," Momoko replied as she frowned.

"Momoko-san, Kaoru-san," Miyako said.

At once, the two looked at her.

"Takumi just texted me. He said that he and his brothers aren't going to school today."

"What?!" Momoko exclaimed.

Kaoru raised an eyebrow at this, but she stayed silent.

"And Takeo didn't bother to tell me this?" Momoko muttered in disbelief.

"Maybe they're too sick?" Kaoru suggested. "We can visit them later."

"Actually," Miyako said, and once she caught the two's attention, she continued, "Takumi says that they've fallen ill. That's why they can't come."

"Okay, they're totally skipping."

"Takeo would never skip!" Momoko retorted.

"Momoko, I get that he's your boyfriend, but—"

"Wait just a minute!" Utonium exclaimed, and everyone looked at him. "Boyfriend? Since when did you start dating, Momoko?!" He paused. "Wait, Miyako, you didn't refer to this so-called Takumi with an honorific!"

Momoko looked away sheepishly as Miyako blushed.

Kaoru sighed. "Yes, Professor, they got boyfriends."

"Kaoru has a boyfriend, too!" Momoko exclaimed.

"Hey!"

" _What?!_ " Utonium yelled.

At once, Kaoru began to stammer, so she tried to whistle inconspicuously.

"Now, wait just a minute! Who are these boys?! And—"

"Oh!" Momoko interrupted. "Look at the time, girls! We better get going!"

"Huh?" Kaoru asked. "Uh, right! Later, Professor!"

"Good-bye, Professor!" Miyako exclaimed.

Without another word, the three girls left a shocked Utonium and a puzzled Peach behind. As soon as they exited the house, the girls could hear Utonium's shocked screams.

When the girls arrived at the next intersection (after they ran as fast as they could), they each stopped to catch their breath.

Kaoru was the first to finish catching her breath, and she narrowed her eyes at Momoko. "Nice going."

Momoko narrowed her eyes back. "I wasn't the one who blurted out that I have a boyfriend now, was I?"

Kaoru scoffed as she turned her head away.

Just then, the street light changed from red to green, and the girls crossed the street.

"Hey, Miyako, did Takumi say anything else?" Kaoru asked.

Miyako shook her head. "I haven't texted him back yet."

"Oh, I just thought of something!" Momoko exclaimed.

Miyako and Kaoru looked at her in confusion.

Momoko's face then dropped. "Oh, wait, never mind. That's not possible."

Miyako blinked in confusion. "Momoko-san, what is it?"

"Well, I thought we could visit the boys before we head off to school to see how they are, but…" Momoko sighed. "Takeo never told me where he lived. I showed him my place, but I've never seen his."

"Takumi also never told me where he lived…"

Kaoru blinked. "I know where they live."

Momoko's eyes then lit up. "Then, hurry up and show us the way!"

"Hey, hey, I only went there once—"

"Kaoru-san, please?" Miyako asked as she pouted.

Kaoru groaned. "Fine, fine."

* * *

"You _moron_."

"I said I'm sorry!"

Takeo groaned.

"Relaaaaaaaaax," Takeshi interrupted his brothers. After chewing and swallowing a piece of the toast in his hand, he said, "It's not like they know where we live."

Takeo gave him a deadpanned look as Takeshi bit off a large piece.

Takeshi blinked, and as the piece of toast was in his mouth, he asked in a muffled voice, "What?"

"You showed Buttercup where we lived, you dolt," Takeo hissed as he glared at him.

Takeshi finally chewed and swallowed the piece. "Yeah, but that place wasn't where we actually lived. We just borrowed the place from that snobby Shirogane girl—"

"That's _exactly_ my point."

After Takeshi drank from his cup of orange juice, he blinked.

Takumi gave a blank stare. "I'm lost."

Takeo groaned. "How do you think the girls will react when they find out that _we don't live there?_ "

Takeshi blinked again. " _Oh._ "

"And it's because of _Boomer_ that the girls might go to that place."

"I said I was sorry!" Takumi exclaimed.

Takeo groaned.

"Well, you never know! Maybe the girls won't plan to come over—"

"I know Blossom well enough that she'll plan to come over."

"But maybe—"

Takeo cut him off with a hard glare, and Takumi closed his mouth.

"So, what's the plan?" Takeshi asked after downing the entire glass of orange juice. "I mean, that Shirogane girl's father probably rented the place to some family already."

Takeo frowned as he began to think.

"I could text Bubbles to not come over?" Takumi asked.

Takeo gave no response, whereas Takeshi shrugged.

"Just try it, man," Takeshi said. "It might work."

"Brick?" Takumi asked.

Takeo gave no response once more.

"Just do it, Boomer," Takeshi said after he rolled his eyes. "He's 'deep in thought' again."

Takumi nodded and began to text Miyako.

Takeshi walked over to Takeo, and he started snapping his fingers in front of Takeo's face. "Hey, hey, snap out of it—"

Takeo slapped Takeshi's hands away, and he glared at Takeshi. "I was in the middle of _thinking._ "

"Yeah, but you always leave us out of your freaking ideas, man."

"I sent the text!" Takumi exclaimed, and after a few seconds, his face dropped. "Uh-oh."

"What is it?"

"The girls are already at the door."

Takeshi blinked, and he frowned. "Well, we're screwed."

"No, not yet," Takeo said.

His brothers blinked at him.

Takeshi raised an eyebrow. "Dude, didn't you hear Boomer?" He paused. "Wait, you got an idea, and you're leaving us out of it again, aren't you?"

"Just follow me," Takeo hissed. "And get _those things_ , Butch."

Takeshi's eyes widened. "Wait—"

Takeo then left the house, and Takumi ran after Takeo.

Takeshi threw his arms up in exasperation. Afterward, he complied and followed.

* * *

"Is this house really it?" Miyako asked.

"It sure is," Kaoru replied before she paused and added, "I think."

"Kaoru, you told us you knew!" Momoko exclaimed.

"Hey, it's been a year since I lasted visited their place, all right? Besides, you didn't listen to me in the first place when I said I wasn't sure about where they lived."

"Well, either way, we're here," Miyako said before Momoko could retort to Kaoru. "I texted Takumi earlier that we'd be coming over, and he just replied, but…I suppose the boys are really ill…"

"Really?" Momoko asked in a concerned tone.

Miyako nodded. "Takumi told me not to visit because what they have seems to be contagious, and he doesn't want me catching it."

"We dragged our asses here, so we may as well see how they're doing," Kaoru said as she rolled her eyes. Without hesitation, Kaoru strolled to the door and rang the doorbell. A long _ding dong_ could be heard, but as Momoko and Miyako strolled to the door together, Kaoru frowned. "No one's answering."

"Maybe they're that ill, after all. Perhaps we should head back later today?"

"Oh, no, I'm not leaving until I see how Takeo-kun's doing!" Momoko exclaimed as she rang the doorbell again.

Kaoru blinked. "Weren't you just worried about him just now?"

"Yes, but if he's sick, he could've texted me to at least let me know!"

"Seriously, that's what you're angry about?" Kaoru deadpanned.

"Of course! The fact that he hid his sickness from me"—Momoko rang the doorbell again—"is _aggravating!_ I'm his _girlfriend!_ I care about his well-being, for crying out loud! He probably pushed himself to his limit again and got sick because of it!"

Momoko began to furiously ring the doorbell again and again.

"Wow, I'd hate to be him right now," Kaoru muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

Just then, the door opened to reveal Takeo, who looked drained and devoid of any sort of emotion.

"Oh, dude, you look terrible," Kaoru said bluntly.

"Kaoru-san!" Miyako scolded.

"It's about you opened the door, mister!" Momoko exclaimed as she narrowed her eyes at him. "You and I have some talking to do!"

Takeo cleared his throat, and he tried to talk, but he began to cough.

Momoko's eyes softened. "Takeo—"

"I'm fine," Takeo said in a raspy voice.

"Uh-huh," Kaoru said sarcastically.

Takeo rolled his eyes. "Why are you three here?"

"Miyako said your brother texted her that you three were sick."

"How about I make some soup for you?" Momoko then asked. "It'll help with that throat of yours—"

"Look, we don't want you girls to catch whatever we have, so please just leave," Takeo interrupted before coughing.

"But—"

"Momoko, please," Takeo implored.

Momoko frowned.

Takeo sighed. "Look, I'll text you later."

And without another word, Takeo closed the door. Takeo then listened intently to the other side as the girls debated on leaving.

"Come on, leave, leave, leave, damn it," Takeo muttered.

"I don't know about this," he heard Momoko say.

Kaoru sighed in exasperation. "We can visit them after school again, if it'll make you feel better."

Miyako then gasped. "Perhaps we can go grocery shopping for them!"

"Great idea, Miyako!" he heard Momoko exclaim.

Takeo groaned softly as he heard the girls walk away. He had done his best to fake his supposed sickness, but apparently, it wasn't enough to make the girls stay away from the house. It was already bad enough that _he_ was back in town, and Takeo knew that he had to focus every single minute on finding and isolating _him_ away from the public eye. He knew that it was only then that the four of them could finally settle the score.

However, he couldn't do that now because the girls planned to come over again.

"Now what?" Takeo muttered to himself. He had his suspicions that the ominous aura in the city was due to _him_ , but Takeo could never confirm them until last night, when _he_ finally confronted Takeo and his brothers.

It was times like these that he desperately tried to remember the visions he had from that guy when they made physical contact with each other. However, he only managed to get a fragment of _his_ memories—something that closely resembled to their confrontation from back then. Unfortunately, Takeo wasn't sure if that was what he saw because he caught only a glimpse of it for a few seconds.

After all, the next thing he knew, he was kicked out of his visions and forced to face reality once again. However, at least now he knew that it was definitely the same guy.

Out of the corner of his eye, Takeo saw Takumi juggling three balls, and he glared at his blond brother. "Boomer."

Takumi frowned, but then he grinned and stopped juggling—only for the balls to start floating in the air.

" _Boomer._ "

Takumi frowned again as the balls levitated slowly back into his hands. "Okay, fine, jeez. Ruining my fun…"

"Where's Butch?"

"He's raiding the fridge."

Takeo growled, and he stomped to the kitchen to find Takeshi going through the fridge. "Butch!"

Takeshi turned his head around as the fridge door shut, and in his hands was a bag of apples, oranges, and grapes. "Uh, yeah?"

"I _said_ not to touch anything."

"But, we're wearing gloves—"

"Don't. Touch. _Anything._ "

"Dude, I'm still hungry—"

Takeo growled.

"Okay, okay, jeez, fine," Takeshi said as he put the fruit back in the fridge.

"Last thing we need is leaving our DNA all over this place."

"I doubt the police will go that far, man," Takeshi replied as he shut the door to the fridge. "They'll just label this as some house break in or whatever."

"Are the newlyweds still knocked out?"

"Yeah, they're in the closet."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, man, you can ask Boomer."

As if on cue, Takumi came into the kitchen.

"Boomer, are they still knocked out?" Takeo demanded.

Takumi blinked and nodded. "I don't think they'll wake up for another couple of hours. It looks like they just came back from their honeymoon, anyway, so they're probably really tired. Why?"

"The girls plan to come back."

At this, Takumi looked down at the floor in guilt as Takeshi whistled.

"They're sure freaking persistent," Takeshi said.

"They're the _Powerpuffs_ ," Takeo snapped. "What do you expect?"

"I don't know, man. Maybe for them to back off 'cause, you know, we're supposedly sick?"

"Well, sorry for not coming up with a better excuse," Takumi retorted as he frowned. "You try coming up with one that's legitimate enough to say to Bubbles."

Before Takumi could say anything else, Takeo held up a hand to stop him and said, "Boomer, we'll deal with the girls later when they come back. Right now, we need to deal with that guy as soon as possible. Otherwise, it's only to get worse from here."

"I guess that means he's behind the murders?" Takeshi asked.

Takeo gave him a deadpanned look. "Who else would go to _that_ extent to kill someone?"

"There's us—"

" _Other_ than us."

Takeshi frowned. "You got a point there. So, what's the plan now?"

"We get rid of him first."

Takumi frowned. "I thought we were getting rid of him with…" His voice trailed off.

"Boomer, you better not be—"

"I'm not! I remember the plan." Takumi paused and repeated in a louder, confident voice, "I remember the plan."

"Good. Look, the girls don't know anything about him, so it might be best to get rid of him first before the girls. Knowing them, they're probably trying to hunt down who's behind the murders—besides the police, that is."

Takeshi raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

Meanwhile, Takumi blinked in confusion. "Wait, why?"

"They've most likely detected the black aura already," Takeo replied.

"How?"

"You used your vision on Blossom, didn't you?" Takeshi accused as he narrowed his eyes.

Takeo narrowed his eyes back. "Yes, I did. The girls have some dog named Peach that detects black light whenever it appears."

"Guess that explains why they always showed up at the scene of trouble back then."

Takeo grunted. "Anyway, it most likely detected _our_ aura last night."

"So, does this mean we need to go back on the down low?" Takumi asked.

"No, if we do that, we'll never catch the guy, and we can't handle him and the girls at the same time, so we need to get rid of him first before he kills more people." Takeo then hesitated, which was rare for his brothers to witness.

"Dude, what are you thinking about?" Takeshi asked.

"Is it a new plan or something?" Takumi then asked.

Takeo shook his head. "No, it's just that if we're not careful, he might target the girls. The guy most likely knows by now that we're together with them."

Takeshi frowned. "Wait, isn't that a good thing?"

Takeo narrowed his eyes. "Do you _want_ to see the girls _brutally murdered?_ Do you _want_ to see the girls' bodies like those dead bodies from last night?"

"Aren't we getting rid of them, though? So, isn't this one of those 'kill two birds with one stone' situations?"

Takeo glared at Takeshi. "We are _not_ having him get rid of the girls for us."

Takeshi frowned. "I was just asking. Jeez. I know that we'll be the ones to get rid of the girls. Besides, it's not like I want that guy to get his hands on Buttercup, anyway."

A moment of silence passed until Takumi finally asked, "How about having the girls get rid of that guy instead?"

"I thought about that, and it wouldn't work," Takeo replied.

"Why not?"

"He's on our level, Boomer. Only we can possibly defeat him."

"But, they have superpowers—"

"They're still human, and their powers aren't enough to stop him, anyway." Takeo paused. "Besides, I doubt the girls can go to the extent of killing someone."

Takumi frowned, but he knew that Takeo had a point.

"So, what do we do now?" Takeshi asked as he frowned.

"Track down where he lives," Takeo replied. "If we do that, we can at least isolate him from the public eye, and we don't have to worry about others finding out about our identities."

"Wait, wouldn't that take a while?" Takumi asked as he blinked. "And the girls will be here after school."

"I'm well aware of that, Boomer, so you'll be staying behind."

"What?!"

Takeo narrowed his eyes. "We need _someone_ to keep a watch on those newlyweds in case they wake back up before the girls arrive."

"Why can't Butch do it?" Takumi exclaimed before he pointed a finger at Takeshi, who blinked nonchalantly. "He's the one who had that hidden stash of chloroform in his room!"

Takeo frowned, and he looked at Takeshi.

Takeshi shrugged. "It's fine with me, man. I brought cans of sleeping gas, anyway, in case they wake back up."

"See?!" Takumi exclaimed as he frowned.

Takeo let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine, but _don't_ touch anything, Butch."

Takeshi rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah."

"That _includes_ eating anything from the fridge."

Takeshi groaned.

" _I mean it._ We need those newlyweds to think that us breaking in was just a dream. Last thing we need is a police inspection in this damn house that'll point at us as the suspects."

Takeshi groaned again.

Takeo rolled his eyes. "Let's go, Boomer."

Without another word, Takeo and Takumi left the house, leaving behind Takeshi in the kitchen.

Takeshi began to think about what Takeo brought up about that guy targeting the girls. At once, he scowled when he started imagining that guy going after Kaoru.

Kaoru was fun to mess with, play around with, and screw around with, and her reactions were always priceless. When he thought about the amount of fun he'd have with her after he and his brothers get rid of that guy, excitement and adrenaline began to bubble inside of his chest.

After all, Kaoru was his toy _only_ , and Takeshi refused to let that guy have any piece of her.


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone!
> 
> Truth be told, I was going to make this chapter shorter, but because I felt it was too short, I ended up combining what I intended to write for chapter 7 together with chapter 6, which made this chapter become...8 pages long. (I wasn't expecting it to be this long, to be honest.)
> 
> Now, if you've been following me on my Tumblr, then you've mostly likely seen some teasers to this chapter already. It also means that you should know that things are going down in this chapter, period, so...just be prepared.

It was lunch time, and Momoko, Miyako, and Kaoru were eating their boxed lunches together. Their desks were against each other, and as Kaoru took another bite of her lunch, Momoko set hers aside.

Kaoru blinked, and she gave Momoko a puzzled look. "You're not going to eat anymore?"

"I'm not feeling that hungry," Momoko replied.

Kaoru's eyes widened.

Momoko sighed. "It's the boys, okay? I'm worried about them."

"I'm worried myself, honestly," Miyako admitted as she also set hers aside.

It was Kaoru's turn to sigh, but she took another bite, anyway. "They're perfectly fine—"

"They're ill, Kaoru-san."

"I know that, but I mean, we'll visit them after school, so it's no big deal, right?"

Momoko and Miyako frowned.

"Come on, guys. We'll even grab medicine along the way."

Momoko's eyes widened. "Oh, that's right! There's a pharmacy downtown, isn't there?"

"Um, Momoko-san, don't you think that'd take a while?" Miyako asked. "Traffic becomes rather heavy in the afternoon."

"Yeah, I know, but…" Momoko sighed before she rolled her eyes. "Knowing Takeo, he's probably 'toughing it out' right now, which means I _have_ to go to the pharmacy." She paused, and her face immediately brightened. "Hey, you girls want to come along?"

Miyako nodded while Kaoru shook her head.

Miyako blinked in surprise. "Kaoru-san, you don't want to come along?"

"Yeah, I thought you'd at least want to grab something for Takeshi," Momoko added.

"I figured maybe I should drop by to check up on them," Kaoru replied, and she frowned as she paused. "You know, just in case any of them need help or something. So, you guys just grab whatever, and I'll look after them." Afterward, she groaned.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm just hoping none of us get sick," Kaoru replied as she frowned. "You know, just in case _that_ happens." She then scoffed and muttered, "Even though it's been forever."

It has been a long time since they fought supernatural crime. Even back then, Kaoru could remember how bored she felt because the supervillain crime rates had drastically dropped. Now, they've almost completely gone, which left the Powerpuff Girls Z almost a distant memory for many people in Tokyo City.

Before Miyako or Momoko could reply, a voice from beside the trio asked, "What are you girls talking about?"

The trio turned their heads, and there stood Kuro.

"Nothing," Momoko replied, but this time, there was a tone of authority in her voice as she glanced at Kaoru and Miyako. She also threw a warning glare at Kaoru for even mentioning a hint about their superhero identities in school.

Kaoru frowned, but said nothing, while Miyako simply took another bite of her lunch.

"Well, if there's anything troubling you girls, I'm here to listen," Kuro said.

"Shouldn't you be off grading paperwork or something?" Kaoru retorted.

Miyako frowned. "Kaoru-san!"

Kaoru shrugged as she scowled. "Just saying."

Kuro laughed. "I was going to, but I saw the worried looks on your faces, so I thought something was up."

"Well, we are worried," Miyako muttered.

"Oh, so I was right, after all?"

Miyako sighed. "We're worried about the Takashi brothers' well-beings."

Kuro slowly raised an eyebrow. "Oh? May I ask why?"

"They're sick," Kaoru replied bluntly.

"And they didn't bother to tell us until this very morning," Momoko added bitterly.

Kuro frowned, and he had a puzzled look on his face. "Are you girls close to those boys?"

The girls each blinked in surprise.

"You haven't heard?" Miyako asked.

Kuro's puzzled expression only grew. "I'm sorry. Heard what, exactly?"

"He hasn't heard," Momoko confirmed as she blinked in surprise again.

Kaoru scratched the back of her head. "Uh, well, we're dating them, sir."

Kuro blinked in surprise again before his eyes grew wide. "What?!"

"No offense, sir, but are you slow?"

"Kaoru-san!" Miyako scolded.

Kuro shook his head. "Oh, no, it's fine. The truth is that I'm very slow when it comes to stuff like this!" He let out a sheepish laugh. "I'm almost always the last to know within my circle of friends."

Kaoru was going to retort again, but once she saw Miyako's stern look directed at her, she decided to keep quiet.

"Well, anyway, I should probably get going," Kuro replied as he smiled. "Those papers aren't going to grade themselves, after all. I'll see you girls later in class!"

After the girls waved and said their good-byes to Kuro, they went back to chatting like before while trying to finish their lunches.

Unbeknownst to them, however, was the growing smirk on Kuro's face as he left the classroom.

* * *

"Are you _sure_ this is the place?" Takumi asked as he and Takeo landed onto the ground.

They were now in the forest that was on the outskirts of Tokyo City.

"I caught a glimpse at one of his memories, and this place was it," Takeo replied as he frowned.

"But, do you really think that he'll be living in the forest?" Takumi replied in disbelief.

Takeo narrowed his eyes. "You have any better idea on where to start, considering how much we dug up on him last time?"

Takumi frowned as he looked at the ground. "No."

Takeo scoffed before his scowl grew. "Hopefully, we won't run into that stupid fuzz ball."

Takumi blinked. "You mean Fuzzy Lumpkins?"

"Yeah, that moron. I'm not in the mood to deal with him."

"We can easily kick his butt, though."

"We can also easily _kill_ him, if we're not careful."

"Oh, yeah… Good point."

Takeo grunted before he began to walk deeper into the forest, and Takumi followed. Of course, since Takumi felt bored as he kept following Takeo, he started to levitate some branches towards him. Slowly, they started to form a small bird's nest.

"Boomer," Takeo growled.

"Yeah?" Takumi replied as the bird's nest continued to form, and eventually, it was done.

Takeo whirled around, surprising Takumi completely. The bird's nest immediately fell to the ground, and the branches scattered.

Takeo glared at Takumi. "Stop using your telekinesis."

Takumi frowned, but complied.

Although Takumi said nothing, Takeo knew that Takumi was irritated. That was the second time he reprimanded Takumi today, and the last thing he needed was someone witnessing his brother's telekinesis.

Besides, he wasn't sure what exactly lied ahead in the forest, other than the distinct surroundings he remembered from that guy's memories. Every image was vivid in his mind, and Takeo followed the pathway he saw the guy had taken in his memories, with Takumi following behind him silently. Leaves and branches crunched underneath their feet, and the only echoes throughout the forest were the sounds of their footsteps.

Takeo frowned as he came to an abrupt halt.

Something about this didn't seem…right.

The only sounds in the forest were their footsteps. Where were the woodland critters, the birds, and the insects? Everything seemed normal, but Takeo felt something in the air was just _off_.

"Brick, what's the matter?" Takumi asked as he frowned.

Takeo was going to reply, until he suddenly caught some scent. He wasn't sure if his nose was just playing tricks on him, though, so he sniffed the air.

Takumi raised an eyebrow. "Uh, Brick?"

Takeo closed his eyes, concentrating on the scent.

Takumi frowned when he realized that Takeo was ignoring him, so he stood in front of Takeo and waved his hands. "Yoo-hoo, Earth to Brick." Within seconds, however, Takumi quickly added, "Uh, Brick, do you smell that?"

At once, Takeo's eyes snapped open in realization. He narrowed his eyes, and without another word, he dashed towards the scent—down the same path he saw in that memory.

Takumi's eyes widened. "Hey, wait up!"

By using their super speed, the two reached a small clearing in the woods within seconds, and Takumi stopped in his tracks when he saw that Takeo stopped. He sniffed the air once more and realized that the strong scent definitely came from here.

Takumi gulped. "Hey, uh, Brick, that scent isn't what I think it is, is it?"

"It's definitely blood, Boomer," Takeo replied as he scowled. His scowl only grew when he stepped forward and bent down to inspect the ground. "It's dried, but it's definitely blood."

Takumi glanced around, and his eyes widened in realization. "Wait, isn't this where those teens died?"

"Yeah. It means that _he_ was behind this as well." Takeo groaned. " _Damn it._ "

"So, uh, I guess this means he doesn't live here?"

" _Obviously_ ," Takeo deadpanned before he rolled his eyes. "The police department must've spent some time already investigating this place. He probably fled to Tokyo City for that reason before the police came."

Takumi frowned before he bent down to look at the ground, and he sniffed the air again before his frown grew. "Sucks to be them."

Takeo snorted. "Look, the issue here is that he shouldn't even _be_ here," Takeo hissed back. "He knows that we're here, and if we're not careful, he can easily take us out." He paused. "Or the girls. He's had history with them as well, after all."

Takumi then stood back up as he sighed. "So, what do we do? If we can't find where he lives—"

At once, Takeo shushed him. "Do you hear that?"

Takumi blinked in confusion until he focused his hearing. Almost immediately, he heard…ticking?

Their eyes widened in realization, and as soon as they tried to fly from the ground, the entire area exploded.

* * *

Lunch was almost to an end, and as Momoko, Miyako, and Kaoru were getting ready for class, they heard their compacts ring softly. Each of their eyes widened, and thankfully, no one noticed the sound because it was still noisy within the classroom.

" _Please_ tell me I'm not dreaming," Kaoru whispered to the two.

"But what about class?" Miyako whispered. "It's going to start soon."

Momoko hesitated, and she glanced at the doors, hoping that the teacher was going to enter any second.

"Momoko, we need to go!" Kaoru hissed.

"I know that!" she retorted.

Kaoru scowled. "Fine. I'm heading off ahead, then."

"Kaoru!"

Within a split second, Kaoru got up and dashed out of the classroom.

Momoko let out a long aggravated sigh before she followed in pursuit.

Miyako hesitated, completely shocked on what to do, but as soon as she saw that Momoko had shut the door, she made up her mind and followed them. By the time she reached the rooftop, she saw that Momoko and Kaoru had already transformed. Within seconds, she transformed as well.

Buttercup frowned. "What took you two so long?"

Blossom glared at her. "We needed at least an excuse—"

"Yeah, but isn't this more important? We can just deal with that later."

Before Blossom could retort, Bubbles intervened by stepping in between the two. "How about we check our compacts to see what's exactly happened?"

Blossom sighed in defeat before she opened her compact, and Bubbles and Buttercup peered over her shoulders.

"Professor?" Blossom asked when she saw Professor Utonium. "What's the matter?"

"There's been an explosion in the forest!" Professor exclaimed.

Bubbles gasped. "That can't be!"

"What?!" Buttercup yelled as her eyes widened.

Blossom narrowed her eyes. "Are there any casualties?!"

"None that I'm aware of at the moment," the Professor replied, a grim look forming on his face. "What worries me is that Peach has detected black light in the forest."

"Which is why you want us to check it out," Blossom stated.

The Professor nodded slowly. "Peach said that it's apparently the same black light he detected last night."

The girls' eyes widened.

"Anyway, the explosion is a long distance away from the city. I'll send you girls the coordinates. But, _please_ be careful, girls."

Without another word, Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup nodded, and they flew towards the forest as fast as they could.

"Do you really think that whatever Peach detected caused the explosion?" Bubbles asked as she frowned.

"In that case, wouldn't it be Fuzzy Lumpkins?" Buttercup replied. "I mean, he's the only one with black light that lives in the forest, right?"

"Yes, but it doesn't make sense for him to blow up his own home! Not to mention those poor animals!"

"We'll see when we get there," Blossom intervened before she sighed. "Right now, we can only hope that whatever Peach detected didn't cause that explosion… Otherwise, we might be in trouble, girls."

* * *

Takeo growled as he clenched his fists.

Thanks to their superhuman abilities, he and Takumi had escaped the explosion. He and Takumi had already distanced themselves from the growing fire, even though the flames continued to crackle. Their clothes were still in one piece, thankfully, but they were definitely tattered. There were even scratches on their bodies and faces, but the wounds would heal soon, anyway.

However, that wasn't the issue. That guy _knew_ they'd try to check this place out, and to make matters worse, Takeo fell for it! He, of all people who knew better, _fell_ for this obvious trap!

Takeo growled again before he punched a nearby tree in anger, and at once, the tree came crashing down. The debris flew as the grass and trees around continued to burn; the explosion left the area barren, with the exception of a few trees that managed to still stay intact.

Takumi turned around when the dirt flew towards his face. "Hey! Calm down, bro!"

"Boomer, he knew we were coming," Takeo retorted.

Takumi coughed. "Yeah, but dude, don't make the place worse!"

Takeo whirled around and flashed his angry eyes at Takumi.

Takumi flinched. "Uh, well, I mean, you know, why make the place worse, right?" Takumi paused and glanced around. "Right?"

Takeo glared at him before his eyes widened in realization. "We need to go _now._ "

"Huh? Why?"

"The girls will be coming soon!"

Takumi's eyes widened. "Wait, why?!"

"He led us here for a good reason! He _knew_ —"

Takeo stopped himself, and his face paled.

"What?" Takumi asked. "What is it?"

Takeo scowled. "We need to head back to the house _now._ "

"Wait, why? Brick, you're not making any sense—"

Takeo growled in frustration. "Not now! We need to _go!_ "

"But—"

Takeo growled again, but louder. "Boomer, this _isn't_ the time—"

"Girls, look!" a voice interrupted him.

Takeo flinched as Takumi's face blanched. He knew that voice. It was _Momoko._

In an instant, he and Takumi hid behind trees.

Takeo inwardly cursed. He should've known. He should've _known_ , for crying out loud. That guy set them up just so they'd be caught by the girls! Takeshi wasn't here, at least, but this wasn't doing them any good! He wasn't planning on facing the girls so _soon_.

Takumi sent Takeo a pleading look. He mouthed, "What do we do now?"

"We get the hell out of here," Takeo mouthed back.

"Right now?" Takumi mouthed.

Takeo shook his head.

Takumi sent him a puzzled look.

Just as Takumi was going to ask another question, Takeo sent him a glare to shut his mouth.

Takumi complied.

"Bubbles, put out this fire! Quick!" Takeo heard Momoko—no, _Blossom_ yell.

"Understood!" he heard Bubbles say, and he noticed that Takumi flinched.

Takeo narrowed his eyes at his brother, but he said nothing as he watched the fire slowly get put out. It didn't take long, as expected, but unfortunately, the nature that once existed couldn't be brought back.

He watched the girls land on the ground slowly, and the three of them each looked puzzled.

"What the hell happened here?" he heard Buttercup say.

Takeo's eyes, however, were focused on Blossom. Her outfit hadn't changed, as he had expected.

"Where are the woodland creatures?" Bubbles muttered afterward.

"More importantly, where is the black light that the Professor mentioned?" Blossom added as she looked around.

Takeo gritted his teeth as he forced himself to look away from the trio. This wasn't the time for him to gawk at them. He and Takumi had to leave now before they were caught! He turned his head to look at Takumi, but he scowled when he saw that Takumi was staring at the girls—or rather, Bubbles, to be exact—with a look of longing.

As if sensing the growing animosity from Takeo, Takumi slowly turned his head to look at his brother.

Takeo narrowed his eyes at him.

Takumi hesitated. He looked at Bubbles one last time before he looked at Takeo and nodded.

At once, Takeo got down in a running position, and Takumi did the same. Both of them stared at each other for a few seconds. As soon as Takeo nodded and Takumi nodded back, the two ran at superhuman speed.

Once they were at least some distance away from the girls, Takumi ran closer to Takeo. "Wouldn't it have been faster to fly?!"

"They'll take notice of us, you moron!" Takeo yelled.

"Yeah, but won't running away also—"

At once, the ground shook, and the two fell to the ground.

Takumi coughed. "Have the same effect…"

Takeo glared at him.

The both of them then slowly stood up, brushing themselves off.

"You two, stop right there!" someone yelled.

Takeo flinched, and he clenched his fists.

Of course. Buttercup had used her hammer to stop them in their tracks.

Takeo frowned, and when Takumi glanced at him, he let out a long sigh before he nodded.

Takumi's eyes widened, but Takeo narrowed his eyes at him, he sighed in defeat.

At once, the two of them turned around to face none other than the Powerpuff Girls Z, who were floating in the air.

In the distance, he could see the shocked looks on each of the girls, but his eyes lingered on Blossom. He saw how her eyes widened, but it wasn't long before her face hardened into that of a leader's, as he had expected.

There was a long staring showdown between him and Blossom, with neither of the two saying anything.

Eventually, Blossom floated slowly to the ground, with Bubbles and Buttercup floating downward afterward respectively.

"Explain yourselves," Blossom demanded.

Takeo was tempted to scoff. He could tell that she was feeling conflicted. He _knew_ that she was feeling conflicted. It was as he had expected, after all.

Still, he had to think of something on the spot _now,_ or else he and his brothers were screwed. To make matters worse, Takeshi wasn't here to even the playing field.

Takeo stayed silent as he stared at Blossom.

As the silence continued, Takumi threw Takeo a puzzled look.

"Well?" Blossom asked.

"We don't need to explain ourselves to you," Takeo retorted.

He _needed_ to do this. He _knew_ he had to do this, for crying out loud, but when he saw the sorrow flash in her eyes, a _tiny_ part of him regretted saying that.

That regret faded once he remembered the objective: get rid of the girls and that guy.

"Look, just tell us why you're here!" Buttercup growled as she pointed her hammer towards them.

"Buttercup!" Blossom snapped.

"No offense, Blossom, but at this rate, we won't get anywhere!"

"Buttercup," Bubbles began. "Perhaps you should calm down—"

"I'm not going to calm down when black light was detected in this area!" Buttercup snapped.

"You don't have to point your hammer at them!" Blossom retorted.

Buttercup glared at Blossom. "Aren't you the one who's always preaching about being on our guard?!"

"Yes, but that doesn't change the fact that we can settle this _civilly!_ "

"Um, girls?" Bubbles interrupted.

Blossom and Buttercup looked at her.

"They're gone."

Both of their eyes widened, and they looked at the area where Takeo and Takumi once stood.

"What the hell?!" Buttercup yelled. "We only took our eyes off them for a second!"

"They shouldn't have gotten far, right?" Bubbles asked, but she sounded hesitant.

At once, their compacts began to ring, and Blossom opened hers. Bubbles and Buttercup leaned in to look at the compact's screen.

"What is it, Professor?" Blossom asked.

The look on Professor's face was grim. "I have some bad news for you girls."

"What is it?" Bubbles asked as her face etched with worry.

Professor Utonium sighed. "The black light that Peach has detected in the forest has begun to move towards the city." He paused. "Did you girls happen to find the source of the black light yet?"

Blossom frowned and shook her head.

Professor Utonium sighed grimly, but it wasn't long before he noticed that Buttercup's face was pale. "Buttercup? Is everything all right?"

Within an instant, Buttercup's eyes were filled with rage, and her entire demeanor shook in anger. "I'm going to _kill_ them."

Professor Utonium's eyes widened. "Buttercup?! What's happened?!"

Buttercup snatched the compact from Blossom's hands.

"Hey!" Blossom yelled.

Professor Utonium looked frantic. "Girls, please, tell me—"

At once, Buttercup closed the compact, and she threw it back at Blossom, who caught it.

"Buttercup, what is it with you?" Blossom snapped.

"Do you two _seriously_ not get it?!" Buttercup yelled. "Don't you remember what I suggested last year about those guys?!"

"I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean, Buttercup," Bubbles said hesitantly.

Buttercup groaned in frustration, and she let out a long sigh. Her voice was quiet, but loud enough for the other two to hear. "Remember when I brought up the notion that maybe those guys were the Rowdyruffs? And how you two shot that down?"

"I remember," Blossom replied, but she hesitated before she added, "But that's impossible because Takeo couldn't possibly be Brick—"

"Open your _eyes,_ Blossom! Peach detected black light here in that very spot! I heard someone running away, and guess who it was?! _Takeo and Takumi!_ And who just escaped right underneath our very noses?! _Takeo and Takumi!_ "

"That doesn't mean anything!"

"No, it _does_ mean something!" Buttercup yelled before she let out a long sigh. "Look, the only way they could've possibly done that is if they were the Rowdyruffs. And to make things worse, I-I actually…" Buttercup clenched her fists.

After a moment of silence, Blossom muttered, "I refuse to believe they're them."

" _Blossom!_ "

"Because if they're the Rowdyruffs, and they've been the black light Peach has been detecting, wouldn't that mean they're _murder suspects?!_ "

Buttercup flinched. "That's _not_ the point here—"

"Oh, really? Because that _seems_ to be what you're implying!"

"I was not—"

"No, _listen_ to me, Buttercup! You're accusing our boyfriends of _murder,_ and I know for a _fact_ that Takeo is _not_ a murderer!"

"Oh, for God's sake, how long are you going to keep blindly defending that guy?! They _used_ us, Blossom!"

"You two, stop fighting this _instant!_ " Bubbles yelled.

At once, the two complied, but they continued to glare at each other.

Bubbles hesitated. "I don't want to believe that the boys are…indeed the Rowdyruffs. It wouldn't make sense, but right now, we need to follow that black light into the city. If we don't, worse things will happen."

Blossom let out a long sigh. "She's right… I let my emotions cloud my judgment."

Buttercup scoffed. "Does it matter? Either way, when I get my hands on Butch—"

" _Takeshi,_ " Blossom corrected, while narrowing her eyes.

"He's _Butch,_ " Buttercup snapped. "There's no doubt about it. And when I get my hands on him, he's _dead._ "

Without another word, Buttercup shot off into the sky.

Blossom rolled her eyes before she flew off as well.

Bubbles hesitated as she recalled Takumi looking at her. His eyes looked _so_ guilty to her, and she didn't know what to make of it.

But, was he _really_ Boomer?

It logically didn't make sense. It _couldn't_ make sense. How could Boomer, the one she knew from three years ago, grow up to become someone like Takumi? If anything, the boys should still be younger than them.

She shook her head to get rid of these confusing thoughts before she flew off into the sky.

* * *

Takeshi—or, well, _Butch_ was watching TV. In actuality, he was just flipping through the channels because there was seriously nothing on TV that piqued his interest. He watched the television with bored eyes as he continued to channel surf.

It wasn't until he heard someone come into the house that he finally stopped his actions.

He frowned. "Brick? Boomer? Is that you guys?"

No response.

At once, he felt the change in the atmosphere, and he quickly stood before turning around to face the open doorway. "Who's there?"

Silence.

Butch narrowed his eyes. The second he blinked, however, he found himself suddenly _slammed_ against the nearest wall.

Butch tried to breathe, but something had a firm grip around his neck. He gasped as the grip tightened, and he tried to claw at whatever was at his neck, but his hands could barely move. When he opened his eyes, just barely, his face blanched.

"Hey there, _Takeshi,_ " the perpetrator said with a sickly grin. "So, why weren't you in school today? Out 'sick?'"

Butch coughed as he felt the grip on his neck become tighter than before. He tried to pull the hand away, but his strength and his consciousness was already slipping away.

To make matters worse, he was alone.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" the perpetrator asked before chuckling darkly.

Butch sent him a weak grin.

The perpetrator threw him a confused look, and almost immediately, he was blasted with an energy beam from Butch's hand. He was sent flying until he hit the wall on the other side of the room, and his body fell down onto the floor.

Butch had already collapsed onto the floor, and he coughed, trying to catch his breath and steady himself as he stood up.

The perpetrator groaned softly. "Why you little _brat._ "

Butch flinched, and he didn't even wait for the perpetrator to get up. He immediately went to the nearest window, opened it, and flew out. He didn't dare to even look back as he continued to try to fly as fast as he could away from that place.

When he figured that he was finally far enough from the place, he flew into an alleyway and continued to hover in the air. He breathed heavily, still trying to make sense of what the _hell_ just happened.

How did that guy find him? He shouldn't have been able to find him! Besides, he shouldn't even _be_ here, or rather, he couldn't _possibly_ be here.

And yet, somehow, he was.

But, why was that?

Butch's eyes widened in realization. "Oh, shit…"

"Figured it out, huh?"

Butch flinched, and he turned his head to find the perpetrator floating next to him.

However, before he could react, the perpetrator punched him _hard_ directly at his stomach.

Butch coughed, and when he tried to uppercut the perpetrator, he was suddenly hit by a barrage of punches and kicks at his entire body. Butch managed to guard some of the attacks, but this _speed_ wasn't something he could keep up with, which _shocked_ him.

How was this guy so fast?! The last time they fought, this guy was nowhere near as fast as he was now!

 _Nothing_ made sense now!

He felt bruises already forming on his body as he kept getting hit with more punches and kicks, and every time he coughed or grunted in pain, he couldn't help but think of his brothers. After all, if his brothers were here, _maybe_ he'd have an advantage. Going up against this guy alone was _suicide._

And for some reason, even though the fear was growing in Butch, the adrenaline in him was still telling him that everything will be okay, just as long as he could find _some_ opening.

As if on cue, Butch finally saw that opening within the barrage of attacks, so he shot an energy beam, but instead of hitting the perpetrator, like he thought it would, it hit the wall across them.

A small crater was created in the wall, and bricks fell onto the ground.

Silence ensued as Butch breathed heavily, trying to regain some of his strength. He could feel the bruises and the places he hit on his body throbbing in pain, and when he tried to shift his body, he winced. It wasn't long before his eyes widened in panic when he realized that the perpetrator was _gone._

He turned his head around frantically, trying to figure out where the _hell_ this guy was, until he looked upward, and his eyes widened when he saw that the perpetrator was floating _above_ him.

Within a split second, the perpetrator shot an energy beam of his own downward at Butch.

Butch fell onto the ground, creating a large crater twice the size of his body from the impact.

His entire body hurt. _Everything_ hurt. It hurt to even try to _move._ To make matters worse, his consciousness was starting to slip away.

His eyes were still glued on the perpetrator, who was still floating in the sky, and despite his state, his superhuman hearing was still as keen as ever.

"Consider this as a warning," he heard the perpetrator say darkly. "You three _better_ not mess with me on the next full moon, or you _will_ regret it."

Butch tried to retort.

He didn't know if he did.

After all, the next thing he saw was complete darkness.


	8. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone! I ended up overdoing it for this chapter (it became 8 pages somehow, like the previous chapter). I debated on whether or not I should've cut this chapter up, but I decided not to. Besides, I'm sure you guys love reading long chapters, anyway, so I don't think you guys mind it as much.
> 
> I don't want to say too much here because I don't want to spoil anything, but I will say that things are slowly unfolding, so enjoy the chapter!

"Where did they go?" Buttercup growled under her breath as she hovered over the city.

Blossom finally caught up to Buttercup, and she narrowed her eyes at her. "Buttercup, you need to _calm down_."

Just then, Bubbles flew to the two. "Blossom is right. You must stay calm!"

Buttercup whirled around to face Blossom, and she glared at the redhead. Just as she was going to retort to Blossom, she heard commotion from below, and she looked down before she frowned.

Below the trio were Tokyo City's pedestrians, who started to shout and scream at the girls to notice them. It wasn't long before each of them tried to take out their phones and snap a picture of the girls floating in the sky. Before they knew it, the citizens of Tokyo City began to crowd below the girls, even though the girls were much above in the air.

"It looks like we're gathering an audience," Blossom muttered.

"And it's at such a bad time," Bubbles added.

"See, Buttercup?" Blossom snapped before she glared at Buttercup. "This is why I told you to calm down. We should've at least planned this out accordingly—"

"'Accordingly?!'" Buttercup yelled.

Blossom shushed her. "Not so loud! There could be reporters down there!"

And Blossom was right. As if on cue, in the distance, they saw various news vans heading to the scene.

"Shouldn't we at least try to track those guys down?!" Buttercup hissed softly.

"But, they could be anywhere," Bubbles replied with a frown.

Blossom sighed. "Bubbles is right. We can't track them down. Well, not as how we are right now, at least."

Buttercup let out an irritated sigh. Her fists were clenched tightly as she nodded in agreement, until her eyes suddenly lit up in realization.

Bubbles blinked. "What is it?"

"The guys," Buttercup replied. She blinked before she looked up to fully face them. "Remember? When we visited them this morning?"

Blossom's face paled. "You're not suggesting that they're _there_ , are you?"

"Well, you got any other bright ideas?!"

"One thing strikes me as odd, however," Bubbles added.

Blossom and Buttercup looked at her immediately with puzzled looks.

"Just where exactly is Takeshi-san—"

"Butch," Buttercup corrected.

"No, _Takeshi_ ," Blossom corrected as she narrowed her eyes at Buttercup.

Buttercup glared at her.

Bubbles sighed. " _Anyway_ , where could he be? He wasn't with his brothers…"

In the distance, the girls heard sirens from five blocks over, and based on what they could see, a small crowd was gathering in that area.

Buttercup frowned. "What the hell is going on over there?"

Blossom narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Let's check out the scene, girls."

Buttercup rolled her eyes when Blossom already flew over to the scene, and after Bubbles followed the redhead, Buttercup sighed in defeat before she let out a long string of curses and followed.

When Buttercup landed on the ground, Blossom and Bubbles were stoic. She narrowed her eyes. "Hey, just what the hell are you two—"

They immediately turned around and tried to block her view.

"Oh, nothing," Blossom said rather quickly.

Bubbles nodded.

Buttercup narrowed her eyes in suspicion as she noticed that her friends' faces were rather pale and distraught. When she tried to move to the left, her friends did the same. After Buttercup tried to float upward to look above them and her friends blocked her view for the third time, her irritation grew, and she immediately tried to push them aside.

"Wait, Buttercup, hold on!" Blossom exclaimed.

"Yes, yes, let's not be hasty!" Bubbles added.

Buttercup growled in irritation, and she finally pushed them aside in succession. At that moment, she understood why her friends looked so distraught and were hesitant. Her eyes grew wide as she stared at the scene in front of her.

There, on the ground, surrounded by paramedics, was her "boyfriend," Butch.

"Oh, Powerpuff Girls Z," one of the policemen said as he took notice of them slowly floating downward. "Did you take care of the forest fire already?"

"Yes," Blossom replied before she glanced hesitantly at Buttercup, who was still in shock at the scene before her.

The policeman smiled at them. "Thank you, girls. We really appreciate it."

"You don't need to thank us," Blossom replied, and her eyes shifted to Buttercup, whose fists clenched as the paramedics placed Butch on a stretcher.

"Are you girls patrolling the city now?"

Bubbles glanced hesitantly at Blossom, who nodded in response. Buttercup, on the other hand, continued to stare at the ambulance.

"So, what happened here?" Blossom asked.

The policeman sighed. "It seems like there was some scuffle in this back alley—"

"A 'scuffle?'" Buttercup interrupted before she narrowed her eyes at the policeman. "You call what happened as some 'scuffle?!'"

The policeman blinked in shock, suddenly taken aback by Buttercup's outburst.

"Buttercup, _please_ , calm down," Bubbles whispered to Buttercup, who only growled in response.

"Please forgive her for that," Blossom immediately said, stepping in between the policeman and her teammates. "We were on our way to the Professor's, and Buttercup's a little antsy about getting there on time."

The policeman slowly nodded, but he narrowed his eyes in skepticism. "I see…"

"Can you tell us the details of what happened?"

The policeman frowned. "Well, like I said, it was just a scuffle. Right now, we can only account for what eyewitnesses have said." He paused. "Or, well, heard, actually."

"Heard?" Bubbles asked.

"Yes, well, according to eyewitnesses, everything happened rather quickly. One second, everything was fine. The next, they heard slams and saw a beam or two of light until that young man"—he nodded his head to Butch on the stretcher—"ended up in some crater on the ground over there." He gestured to the small crater.

"I see," Blossom replied. "Is that all?"

"Unfortunately, that's all we can piece together at the moment. There are some other concerning facts, such as the crater in that wall over there, but you girls needn't worry. We can handle this."

Before Blossom could reply, Buttercup said, "I'm going to check out the craters."

The policeman's eyes widened in surprise as Buttercup immediately flew towards the crater in the wall.

Blossom sighed. "These craters might be linked to the culprits who caused the forest fire, so we'll be checking them out."

"Yes, but girls, we can handle it—"

He was ignored as Blossom also flew over to where Buttercup was. Bubbles immediately followed, not wanting to be left behind.

"This crater is _huge_ ," Blossom muttered with her eyes wide. "What could've caused this?"

"Who else?" Buttercup spat as she glanced over at the ambulance, which started to drive away from the scene.

Bubbles frowned. "Buttercup, I know you're angry at Takeshi—"

" _Butch._ "

"That doesn't matter," Bubbles stated as her frown grew. "The fact of the matter is that he's been gravely wounded. Can't you put aside your anger for just _one_ second and remember that he's _still_ your boyfriend?"

Buttercup growled at that last word Bubbles said, but she made no comment.

"We don't even know if he's Butch and caused this. For all we know, his adversary could've caused this."

"Or adversaries," Blossom corrected before she sighed. "Either way, I think we might be in some serious trouble, girls."

* * *

Takeo burst through the door of his so-called house without hesitation, and Takumi closed the door behind them as calmly as possible. As Takeo looked around the house frantically, Takumi began to hesitate as the anxiety in him grew. Before Takumi knew it, Takeo began to run around the first floor of the house, and in order to stop his red-haired brother from going any further, he ran to the staircase and blocked his brother's path to the next floor.

"Get out of my way," Takeo growled.

Takumi flinched inwardly as he watched his brother's eyes darken slowly with rage. He could sense the air thicken around his brother, and he could've sworn his brother's eyes flash completely red.

Takeo let out an animalistic growl, which made Takumi flinch immediately. " _Boomer._ "

"He's not here," Takumi replied.

Takeo growled even louder.

"You and I both know that he's not here, okay?" Takumi retorted, slowly gaining the confidence to talk back to his brother, who was on the borderline of _that_ state.

There was a long pause as Takeo continued to glare at Takumi.

"Your eyes are turning completely red now, you know," Takumi muttered.

Takeo's eyes widened, and Takeo groaned as he closed his eyes. There was a short moment of silence as Takeo took deep breaths to compose himself. When he finally looked at Takumi, his eyes were once again back to normal, and he narrowed his eyes. "We need to find him."

"How?" Takumi replied. "I know you told me all of this mumbo jumbo that he probably found Butch by now, but—"

"We'll find him by using our noses," Takeo retorted. "Simple as that."

And without waiting for a response, Takeo ran out of the house using his superhuman speed.

Takumi sighed as he felt the fear build up in him again. Eventually, he shook it off and ran in pursuit of his red-haired brother.

They hid in the shadows of buildings and alleyways before they finally made their way to the nearest rooftop. From there, the two ran from rooftop to rooftop, making sure that no one saw them as they followed the scent of their black-haired brother.

It wasn't long before the two realized that they were chasing after an ambulance, which continued to go through the streets.

"Brick, what now?" Takumi exclaimed. "It's not going to stop!"

Takeo raised his hand and pointed it in front of the ambulance. Within seconds, the road in front of the ambulance formed a large crater, which the ambulance fell into and began to break down. As chaos began to form around the scene with injured people and cars swerving to avoid the crater, Takeo and Takumi used their superhuman speed to go through the crowd, grab their brother from the ambulance, and run away from the scene.

Finally, they arrived at their real home.

With Takeshi on his back, Takumi ran downstairs to the living room immediately. Meanwhile, Takeo slammed the door shut before he stared at it in anger, almost daring for anything to go through the door at this moment.

"Brick!" Takumi yelled.

Takeo immediately dashed down the stairs. There, he finally took notice of his black-haired brother, who was beaten badly, on the couch, and his eyes narrowed at the amount of blood, bruises, and cuts on any visible place of his brother's body.

"What do we do?" Takumi asked as the look of distraught came over his face.

Takeo made no response as he continued to stare.

" _Brick!_ "

Takeo narrowed his eyes, and before he could reply, he heard their black-haired brother cough. His eyes widened as Takumi sighed in relief, but when they heard their brother groan in pain, Takeo became stoic whereas Takumi became concerned.

"Oh, that's _definitely_ going to leave a mark," their black-haired brother muttered as he gave them a weak grin.

"You feeling better?" Takeo asked.

"Oh, yeah, _totally_ ," he replied sarcastically.

"If you're well enough to say that, then you can explain what the hell happened to you."

" _That guy_ happened. What else? He came to kick my ass… And that's not the worst part."

Takeo narrowed his eyes as Takumi became fearful.

"It's _Kuro_ ," Butch muttered before he groaned in pain. "He knows our aliases, so there's no point in using them anymore."

Takeo—no, _Brick_ growled in irritation. His plan hadn't executed yet, and _everything_ was already falling apart.

Takumi—no, _Boomer_ glanced at Butch, who hissed in pain. "Dude, do you need painkillers?"

Almost immediately, a plan formed in Brick's head, and before Butch could reply, Brick said, "No, with those wounds, he definitely needs Chemical Z."

Boomer's eyes widened. "But, there's only one place that has it…"

Butch tried to get up, but he yelped in pain. "God damn it…"

Brick narrowed his eyes. "The sooner we go, the better. Come on, Boomer."

"Wait," Butch called out, and when his brothers looked at him, he let out a small sigh. "Kuro—no, hell, can we even still call him that when we know who he is?"

Brick scowled as Boomer gulped inaudibly.

There was a moment of silence.

Butch broke it by sighing again. "Look, he beat me up because he said this was some…warning to us."

Brick narrowed his eyes.

"That, and he said something about not messing with him on the next full moon." Butch scoffed. "Hell if I know what he's planning next…"

"Maybe more murders?" Boomer asked.

Brick shook his head. "No, this is _that_ guy we're talking about here. He's most likely got something planned."

"Yeah, but…you don't think that he's planning on going after the girls, do you?" Boomer asked in a soft voice.

At this, Butch sat up immediately before he toppled to the floor in pain, but he managed to lift his head up to look at his brothers. "But, he doesn't—"

"No, he most likely does," Brick interrupted.

At that statement, Boomer's face blanched.

Brick narrowed his eyes. "And unfortunately, I think I have an idea on what his power might be."

"Then, _tell us_ ," Butch retorted as he slowly sat up. He then hissed in pain as he leaned against the couch.

"He most likely has the power to look into the future," Brick muttered.

Boomer's eyes widened. "What?!"

"Well, it might be a power similar to mine: just by touching a person, he can take a look into that person's possible future."

"So, you're saying that he's been _toying_ with us this entire time," Butch growled as he narrowed his eyes.

Brick scowled. "Precisely. It also explains why I couldn't see much into his past when I touched him. He purposely chose a specific memory during that moment, so he could lead us to that trap he set in the forest."

"And because of that, you think that he knows the girls' identities?" Boomer asked as his eyebrows furrowed.

"Yeah. If he has looked into their futures before, then he would've most likely seen their transformations."

Before Brick could continue, Butch hissed in pain.

Brick narrowed his eyes. "We can continue this conversation later. Boomer, stay with Butch."

Boomer blinked in confusion. "But, I thought—"

"Butch can't defend for himself right now, and he needs someone to watch out for him," Brick interrupted before he sent Butch a small glare. " _Otherwise_ , he might do something reckless again."

Butch snorted as he rolled his eyes. "Oh, yeah? What about you? He might come after you, too. Have you ever thought about that, _huh?_ "

"I'll be back here as soon as possible." Brick paused. "If anything happens to you two, then meet me underground. After all, there's a chance that he might know about this place as well."

Boomer hung his head after he nodded. Butch, on the other hand, tried to retort, but he hissed in pain when he tried to stand up.

Without another word, Brick left.

* * *

Momoko, Miyako, and Kaoru were at the Professor's laboratory. They decided that it was best to meet with the Professor and consult him on everything that had happened, ranging from the forest fire to the discovery of their boyfriends' possible true identities as the Rowdyruff Boys Z.

The Professor had made no comment as he tried to formulate the reasoning behind all of these events in private. Meanwhile, the girls were occupied in their own thoughts: Momoko was currently pacing around the room, Miyako was staring out the large windows of the laboratory, and Kaoru was currently restraining herself from lashing out at any physical object.

"I just don't understand…" Miyako muttered, but the other two girls had heard her.

Momoko stopped pacing around the room, and she looked at Miyako. "What do you mean?"

Miyako turned her head to look at Momoko with a look of concern. "Well, let's say that hypothetically, the boys _are_ the Rowdyruffs—"

"They _are_ , and there's no doubt about it," Kaoru interrupted angrily, but she didn't bother to look at her two friends.

Miyako sighed. "I meant _hypothetically_ , Kaoru-san. If that is the case, then they shouldn't be our age."

Before Kaoru could retort, Momoko said, "She has a point, Kaoru. I've been thinking about this for a while now…" Suddenly, Momoko began to pace around the room again, and her two friends watched her.

"And?" Kaoru asked with a frown.

"It just raises too many questions," Momoko replied, and she frowned when she added, "If they _are_ the Rowdyruffs, then how did they become older? Why are they back in Tokyo City after being gone for so long? And most importantly…" Momoko stopped her pacing as she brought her gaze to the floor and muttered, "Why us?"

Miyako looked at her in confusion. "Momoko-san?"

Momoko sighed and looked at her two friends before she asked quietly, "Why pursue us?" There was a long pause between the trio before Momoko asked once more in a louder voice, "Why pursue us when they most likely know that we're the Powerpuff Girls Z?"

"Maybe they don't know that we're them?" Miyako asked hopefully.

However, Kaoru scoffed and scowled. "Of course they know! It's the only reason why they'd be with us!" Kaoru grumbled a couple of curses before she sighed in aggravation. "Isn't it clear why the hell they pursued us?" Kaoru paused, waiting for an answer, but there was none, she narrowed her eyes and muttered, "They're obviously out to get us."

"I don't believe that."

"Miyako—"

"I refuse to believe that Takumi would hurt me," Miyako interrupted with a stern look on her face.

"You mean _Boomer_ ," Kaoru corrected as she glared at the blonde.

There was a moment of silence as Miyako frowned before she finally muttered, "It doesn't matter whether or not he's Boomer."

Kaoru narrowed her eyes at the blonde. "Miyako!"

"He's still my boyfriend, Kaoru-san."

"He's a _Rowdyruff_ —"

"I _love_ him."

Kaoru's eyes widened as she saw how serious Miyako's gaze was. As they continued to stare at each other, Kaoru realized that Miyako wasn't going to agree with her, so she groaned in aggravation and looked the opposite way.

Momoko cleared her throat to grab their attention. For once, it wasn't her arguing with Kaoru, but Miyako instead. It was surprising, to say the least, but she knew that they were all under shock and overwhelmed with emotions. "Speaking of boyfriends…" She sent Kaoru a questioning look. "You're not going to see Takeshi in the hospital?"

Kaoru stiffened before she snorted.

"Kaoru-san, he _is_ your boyfriend," Miyako muttered.

Kaoru scoffed before she glared darkly at the table in front of her and clenched her fists. "So? He can stay in there, for all I care."

"Kaoru-san!"

"He's a God damn _Rowdyruff_ , Miyako!"

"We don't know for sure if they _are_ the Rowdyruffs, though," Momoko immediately retorted.

Kaoru glared at Momoko. "Don't pull that crap with me! I had my suspicions that Takeshi was Butch last year, but…" At this point, Kaoru let out an aggravated sigh and looked at the floor in anger. "I stupidly thought that he just _couldn't_ be Butch."

Miyako's eyes softened. "Kaoru-san…"

Momoko wanted to tell Kaoru that the boys were innocent until proven guilty, especially since there was still the suspicion that their boyfriends could be murderers. However, she had been interrupted when the Professor rushed in with a frantic look on his face.

"Girls!" the Professor exclaimed. "Oh, thank goodness you're still here."

"What is it, Professor?" Momoko asked.

"I was just contacted by the mayor. Apparently, the ambulance that Takeshi was in—it's been involved in a terrible accident!"

"What?!" Kaoru exclaimed, her eyes wide as her two friends gasped.

"There's already help at the scene for those who are injured. The police are still investigating what exactly happened, but the cause behind the accident is currently unknown. Eyewitnesses have said it happened so suddenly, but…" The Professor's eyes grew solemn. "It seems that many of them have said that they saw a sudden beam of light—"

"I _told_ you!" Kaoru yelled as she narrowed her eyes at her two friends. "They _are_ the Rowdyruffs!"

Before Momoko could retort, the Professor had a grim look on his face and said, "That's not all. It seems that Takeshi—or Butch, if you'd rather call him that—has disappeared from the scene."

"His brothers must've done it," Kaoru grumbled.

"We don't know that!" Momoko yelled.

"Momoko, face the facts! There's no doubt about it now! They _are_ the Rowdyruffs!"

Before the Professor could intervene, the alarm in the laboratory suddenly went off.

"What the hell?!" Kaoru yelled.

"Professor, what is going on?" Miyako exclaimed as the alarm continued to blare loudly throughout the entire building.

The Professor's eyes widened. "No, it can't be…"

"Professor?" Momoko asked, wincing at the loud alarm.

The Professor turned around without a word and ran down multiple hallways. He could hear the girls following behind him, each of them yelling at the Professor to explain why there was an alarm going off, but he paid them no heed.

It wasn't until they arrived in a familiar room that they abruptly stopped.

There, meters away from them, stood an open safe.

When the girls finally realized why the room and safe looked so familiar, their faces blanched.

Someone had stolen Chemical Z.

* * *

Brick entered his home without a word, and when he went to the living room, he saw Butch, who was still in the same position as before.

Butch looked up to see Brick holding onto a large container.

"I told you I'd be quick," Brick said before he placed the container in front of his brother.

Butch snorted before he hissed in pain when he tried to readjust his position.

Brick opened the container, which had a glowing liquid inside, and he glanced at Butch with a frown. "It might sting at first, you know."

Butch snorted again. "We lived through our transformations. I'm pretty sure I can handle this."

Brick raised an eyebrow. "Whatever. You can tend to your own wounds, right?"

Butch grunted before he began to rub Chemical Z onto his body. He hissed at first when it came into contact with his wounds, but it soon became a relieving sensation as his wounds slowly disappeared one by one.

"Where's Boomer?" Brick asked.

"We thought you'd be gone for a while longer, so he went to go find a first aid kit."

Brick narrowed his eyes. "He left the house?"

Butch rolled his eyes. "No, he's inside, genius."

Within seconds, Boomer arrived into the living room, and he let out a sigh of relief when he saw the Chemical Z in the living room before he approached his brothers. "Oh, thank God."

Butch snorted. "See?"

Boomer looked at him in confusion.

Before Boomer could ask, Brick said, "After Butch is done healing, we're getting out of here."

Butch narrowed his eyes. "To where?"

"Underground."

Butch groaned while Boomer cringed.

Brick narrowed his eyes. "I said earlier that he might know about this place."

"But, he can't look into any of our memories," Boomer replied with a frown.

"That doesn't matter. It's better to be safe than sorry."

"But—"

"Boomer, if he knows our identities, what makes you think he wouldn't know about this place?" Brick demanded as he narrowed his eyes. "Furthermore, if he has the power to see into someone's future through just a simple touch, that means that he must know about the girls' identities already. One of those futures might've even revealed this location, especially now that the girls know our identities."

Boomer flinched at the last portion of the sentence.

Brick noticed this and frowned. "The girls are more likely to link us back to this place, so unless the two of you have any better ideas, we're heading underground."

"I'd rather stay at Miyako-chan's place, though," Boomer muttered, but he knew that his brothers heard him. Whereas Butch said nothing, Brick glared at him.

" _Boomer_ ," Brick growled.

"I didn't say anything," Boomer muttered and paused before he added, "It's just… What if that guy goes after the girls to try to get to us?"

Brick narrowed his eyes.

Boomer looked at the floor in frustration.

Butch said nothing as a long silence ensued between his brothers. As he continued to tend to his wounds, he couldn't help but think about Kaoru. He did slip into unconsciousness after he was beaten, but he managed to finally gain consciousness when he felt someone place his body on a stretcher. It was then that he had seen Kaoru's shocked face.

That face didn't suit her at all.

"Boomer, what is our mission?" Brick asked.

Boomer stayed silent.

"Boomer, I'm going to ask you _one more time_ , and I expect you to respond," Brick growled as he narrowed his eyes. "What is our mission?"

Boomer let out a soft sigh, still looking at the floor as he replied softly, "To destroy that guy and…the girls."

Butch frowned as Kaoru's shocked face flashed in his mind again, and he couldn't help but wonder if she was mad at him or hated him.

Brick noticed Butch's frown, and he raised an eyebrow. "Is there something you'd like to add?"

"No," Butch replied as he rolled his eyes.

Brick narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but said nothing.

There was a long moment of silence as Butch continued to treat his visible wounds. It wasn't until he leaned against the couch that he resisted the urge to hiss in pain. He had completely forgotten about the injuries on his back… Just great.

Butch let out a long sigh, breaking the silence. He glanced at his brothers, who were still silent, and then at Chemical Z. His eyes lingered on the liquid as he thought about his wounds and Kaoru.

Within an instant, he made up his mind.

Butch put the cap back onto the container, and he stood.

Brick finally glanced at Butch. "What about your back?"

"It'll heal on its own," Butch replied as he shrugged, not caring about the possible scars.

"All right, then. Let's move out."

After Boomer and Butch nodded, the trio left the house and headed underground.

As Butch carried the container of Chemical Z in his arms, he began to formulate a plan to sneak out of their hideout and visit Kaoru tonight, whether Brick liked it or not.


	9. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone! I didn't overdo it this chapter!...Sorta. It's 6 pages long, but I mean, it's only above the minimum by one page. (When you think about it, that's not much at all.)
> 
> Anyway, as you probably assumed from the ending of the previous chapter, the focus is finally back on Butch and Kaoru! I don't want to give away too much, so...enjoy!

Butch managed to leave underground undetected by his brothers. Granted, Brick was pretty smart, so Butch knew his brother would figure it out eventually. At the moment, though, he didn't care, especially since he was told the next step in their mission.

To put it bluntly, it was crazy as hell.

Once Brick had explained the entire plan, however, everything made sense. Still, Butch questioned whether or not everything would act according to plan, especially after finding out that Kuro was able to look into the future. Well, Brick had pointed out to his brothers that Kuro most likely could only look into one _possible_ future. It didn't guarantee that the plan would succeed, but that meant there was a small chance of succession, and with the way things turned out, they had no choice but to proceed with this plan. After all, it was their only chance to get rid of Kuro…and the girls.

"God damn it all…" Butch muttered under his breath as he narrowed his eyes. He was currently sitting on the ledge of a tall building, his legs dangling in the air. He'd much rather float in the air and…think, but Brick had told him and Boomer to lay low if they went to the surface, just until the plan was finally executed. They needed to buy time, and according to what Kuro told him, they only had time until the next full moon.

Butch frowned at the time constraint. Normally, he wouldn't think so much about this because he was the kind of person to act first and think later. Brick had said it was possible to execute the plan before the next full moon, but Butch still thought it was crazy. As much as he trusted Brick's judgment, he still couldn't help but wonder whether or not Kuro was already onto their little plan.

Butch's eyes narrowed when he recalled what happened back at the hideout a few hours prior.

"Wait, what was Kuro's motive behind killing all of those people?" Boomer asked.

"Unfortunately, I've yet to figure that one out," Brick replied as he scowled.

Butch shrugged. "Maybe he did it for fun."

"No, he's definitely doing it for a reason."

"Maybe he did it to get our attention?" Boomer asked.

Brick shook his head. "He knew we were here, remember? He managed to track us down to Tokyo City… Then again, the fact that he came to Tokyo City might've been coincidental."

"What makes you say that?"

"The Powerpuff Girls Z were his enemies as well. He might've originally came back here for revenge on them. He hates us more than he hates them, so once he sensed our presences, he probably decided to aim for us instead."

"That doesn't explain why the hell it took him a year longer than us to suddenly show up, though," Butch retorted as he scowled. "Why _now?_ "

Boomer pondered for a moment before he asked, "Maybe…the transformation affected him a lot more than ours did?"

Butch blinked in surprise, whereas Brick frowned as he considered what Boomer said.

Butch then raised an eyebrow. "We underwent the same God damn transformation, Boomer. He's like one of us." Butch scowled as he remembered how Kuro beat him earlier today, and he grumbled, "Except a hell of a lot stronger."

"Yeah, but wasn't he originally human?" Boomer asked.

"And?"

"Well, maybe it's _because_ he was originally human that he underwent a different transformation."

Butch gave Boomer a deadpanned expression. "Boomer, I _just_ said that we underwent the _same_ transformation."

"No, Boomer might be onto something," Brick said.

Boomer blinked a few times. "Wait, I am?"

Butch gave his blond brother another deadpanned look.

Brick narrowed his eyes, signaling his brothers to listen. "Remember, the monkey had in mind for only _us_ to transform. If what Boomer said is true, then it might explain his motive behind killing all of those people."

"So…he _doesn't_ want the girls' attention, then?" Boomer asked in confusion.

Brick glared at him.

Boomer threw his arms in defense. "I'm only asking!"

"He beat me to a freaking _pulp_ , Boomer," Butch deadpanned. "I think that at this point, he couldn't care less about the girls."

"We can't say that for certain," Brick retorted.

Butch groaned in aggravation. "Make up your mind already! First, it was because he came to Tokyo City for the girls! Then, it was about us! Now, it's _possibly_ about the girls! Which is it?!"

Brick's eyes flashed completely red, and he let out an animalistic growl.

Immediately, Butch shut his mouth and said nothing further.

Butch sighed as he pushed those memories out of his head. He glanced downward to the busy streets of Tokyo City, and his eyes lingered on the convenience store across the street. It didn't take him a long time to locate Kaoru, considering that he used _those_ instincts, but he hadn't made himself known to her yet. He was waiting for her to finally be alone, away from wandering eyes.

A short while afterward, Kaoru left the store with a bag in her hands.

Butch's head perked up, and his eyes lingered on her figure as she began to skateboard through the streets. He continued to follow her by jumping from one rooftop to the next, until she finally ended up at a skate park. When he saw Kaoru stop skateboarding to sit down on the stairs, his eyes opened in realization.

It was the skate park he first met her at after his return to Tokyo City.

Memories started flow in his head, and he grimaced.

It was funny, to say the least.

A few years ago, Butch was smitten with Buttercup. He just couldn't get her out of his head, but thanks to the transformation, he was able to forget about that puppy love.

When he had first met Kaoru, he was surprised to be able to occasionally read her thoughts. He managed to control his telepathy beforehand, which meant that he shouldn't be able to unintentionally read people's minds. If he hadn't learned to control it, he would've gone insane already.

After he found out that he was going to attend the same school as her, he was surprised to find out that whenever Kaoru was around him, his control over his telepathy would sometimes break. He had thought that it was just a coincidence the first few times, but as it continued, he couldn't deny it anymore: Kaoru Matsubara somehow affected his control over his telepathy. As a result, there were times when he unintentionally read her mind, and he'd have to appear as though he never knew what she was thinking, especially when she was suspecting that he was Butch of the Rowdyruff Boys Z.

It didn't stop the various questions going through his head each time. How did she find out? How did she know about his true identity? Just who _was_ she?

As a result, he kept a close eye on her in order to try to find out why his control kept breaking and why she knew his true identity. Everything had finally made sense when Brick told the truth about Momoko, Miyako, and Kaoru: they were actually the Powerpuff Girls Z.

Soon after this discovery, his old feelings resurfaced, and they grew stronger as he continued to read tidbits of her mind whenever she thought about him. When they finally started going out for real and he continued to occasionally read her mind, he sometimes felt tingles—the same tingly feeling that he would get when his adrenaline or sadism kicked in. Those tingles became stronger and soon satisfied him whenever they did anything affectionate, ranging from holding hands to even kissing.

However, that didn't change the fact that she was still a toy to him. His feelings for her didn't matter, anyway. After all, this mission was much more important to complete.

Butch let out a long sigh as he slowly floated downward in a nearby alley, making sure that no one saw. He pulled his jacket's hood over his head before he casually left the alley, heading toward the skate park. Once he had a clear view of Kaoru, he began to lurk in the shadows, taking advantage of the dark night, and he hesitated to take another step forward. He knew that he had to talk to her, but really, what could he say? She was eerily silent the entire time he had been following her. Sure, her scowl wasn't out of the ordinary, but he expected her to go on _some_ kind of rampage.

Then again, she might've gone on a rampage already. Brick had told him and Boomer that the girls were over at the Professor's when he had broken into the laboratory to retrieve Chemical Z. Apparently, the girls had suspected that they were the Rowdyruffs, and Kaoru was the most suspicious of them, which wasn't surprising, considering how she was onto them last year, compared to her two friends.

"Screw my life," he heard Kaoru mutter.

Butch raised an eyebrow as he stared at her back. He noticed then that Kaoru was looking at the stars in the night sky. Almost immediately, his telepathic control broke.

 _God damn it all to hell! I knew that he was Butch last year, but no, I had to be a stupid_ idiot _and believe that he couldn't_ possibly _be Butch!_

Butch winced as her thoughts entered his mind, and he grimaced as he glared. Just what the hell was it about this girl that made his control break every time? Seriously.

He heard Kaoru huff and begin to wolf down her snacks. _If I had investigated a bit further, maybe I could've found out that out sooner! If I had done that—if I had known that he was Butch before everything between us happened—before I stupidly…_

He frowned as her thoughts trailed off. Before she stupidly what? He blinked a few times before he noticed that she hung her head, almost in shame.

Her thoughts were quiet, and at that point, he realized that his control was back. He couldn't hear her thoughts anymore. But, his curiosity got the better of him as he stepped toward her. His steps were silent on the ground as he masked his presence until he was just a meter away. Finally, he asked with a raised eyebrow, "Before you stupidly what?"

Kaoru's eyes widened before she stood up immediately, not caring that she had dropped her food, and she turned around to face Butch. Within a few seconds, her face contorted into pure anger, and she began to run toward him.

Butch could've easily avoided her, but he allowed her to grab the collar of his shirt. He even allowed himself to get pulled down to her height—closer to her face, in fact—as she glared at him. However, before she could make her next action, Butch repeated, "Before you stupidly what?"

Kaoru blinked in confusion.

Butch took advantage of the situation to grab her hands and forcefully pulled them away from the collar of his shirt. He even ignored the fact that Kaoru had winced from his strength. Once more, he repeated, "Before you stupidly _what?_ "

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kaoru asked as she narrowed her eyes in skepticism. It took a few moments before those words fully sunk in, and her eyes widened in confusion.

Butch frowned. Perhaps trying to reveal his telepathy to her this way wasn't the best way to start things off. He took a pause in his own thoughts before he sneered at her. "Did you mean something like before you stupidly fell for me?"

Kaoru flinched, and she glared at him. When she tried to reach for her compact, however, Butch grabbed both of her wrists. She began to struggle, but she winced when she felt his grip tighten.

"I just want to talk," Butch stated as he narrowed his eyes.

"That's a load of crap!" Kaoru retorted as she tried to pull away from his grip. It wasn't until a thought finally crossed her mind that she stopped completely.

At that moment, Butch's control broke once more.

_Wait, what the hell happened to his wounds? Wasn't…_

Kaoru's face paled as the scene of Butch on a stretcher appeared in her mind. It was etched into her brain, even though during that moment, she was a large distance away from him.

Butch scowled before he answered, "My wounds obviously healed."

"I can _see_ that!" Kaoru retorted before her face contorted into confusion once more. _Wait, what? How did he know?_

"I'll tell you how."

Kaoru flinched as her eyes widened.

"But _only_ if you'll listen to what I have to say," Butch added as he narrowed his eyes. He paused. "Just…listen to me as _Takeshi_ , your boyfriend—"

Kaoru scoffed. "You're no boyfriend of mine."

For some reason, Butch felt an ache in his chest. He didn't know why, so he ignored it as he narrowed his eyes. Immediately, he tightened his grip on her wrists, releasing more of his superhuman strength.

Kaoru bit her lip, not wanting to cry out in pain.

"Look, I came to _talk_ , not to fight," Butch stated. "Just listen to what I have to say, and I'll leave peacefully. Otherwise…" He tightened his grip again.

At this point, Kaoru cried out in pain, and she cursed. " _Fine!_ Just let go already!"

Butch obeyed before he took a couple of steps back. He watched Kaoru stare at the red marks on her wrists, and he sneered when she glared at him because once again, his control broke.

 _Asshole_ , Kaoru thought.

"I _had_ to be rough on you," Butch said as he raised an eyebrow. "I can't have you transform on me, you know."

He knew that the girls' outfits were indestructible, after all. They were vulnerable as humans, but once they transformed, they were untouchable. He didn't know if Kuro knew that since this little fact might've not been obvious to him back then, but he and his brothers definitely knew. It'd be tough to hurt them, which was why the next step in the plan was necessary.

Kaoru narrowed her eyes at him. "You _knew._ "

"Yeah, I did."

"For how long?"

Butch paused, pretending to ponder to add further to her growing irritation. "Since last year."

Kaoru growled under her breath.

"Look, I'm not here to talk about that—"

"You're Butch, right?" Kaoru interrupted.

Butch frowned.

" _Right?_ "

There was a long moment of silence as Kaoru stared angrily at Butch while Butch gave a blank look in response.

Finally, Butch let out a long sigh. "Yeah, I am."

Kaoru clenched her fists.

"Kaoru, I'm not here to fight you. As much as I'd _like_ to fight you, I can't." Butch paused as he frowned. "Besides, I already had my ass whooped today, anyway."

"By whom?"

Butch blinked in surprise as he saw how fierce Kaoru's gaze looked. However, he frowned once more. "I can't tell you that."

Kaoru growled before she took a step toward him. "Why the hell not?!"

"I just can't."

Kaoru glared at him.

"This is _our_ problem, not yours," Butch retorted as he glared back at her.

Kaoru narrowed her eyes. "The forest fire is related, isn't it?"

Butch sighed in irritation. This wasn't how he planned things would go. The last thing he needed was having the girls involved, and that wasn't part of Brick's plan.

"Well?!"

"I'm not here to talk about any of that," Butch replied.

"Then, why the hell are you here?!"

"To talk about us."

Kaoru flinched.

"Although, since you don't see me as a boyfriend anymore…" Butch's voice trailed off as he frowned.

"Yeah, because you're the enemy!" Kaoru retorted.

Butch decided to ignore her comment as he narrowed his eyes. He sighed in frustration before he turned around and took a step forward, already preparing himself to use his superhuman speed to run away.

"Wait!" Kaoru yelled.

Butch paused, and he turned his head to look back at her.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Kaoru growled.

Butch pondered on how to respond before he finally said, "Away from you."

"Not until you answer all of my questions!"

All of a sudden, her thoughts entered his mind again.

_Why are the Rowdyruffs in Tokyo City? Why are they older? Was everything…a lie?_

He could sense the hurt behind that last sentence, but he made no comment. Finally, he said, "I don't need to answer to you. After all, you've made it perfectly clear that we're not in a relationship anymore."

Kaoru stiffened as her gaze fell to the ground.

Butch stared at her figure, waiting for her to say something else. He came to explain everything to her: why he and his brothers were back in Tokyo City, why they were older, his transformation, his telepathy, and even his feelings. Most importantly, he wanted to warn her about Kuro, but since she made it clear that he was no longer her boyfriend…

He brushed the ache he felt away, and he readied himself to leave until his superhuman hearing caught Kaoru's soft words.

"Wait, please."

Butch paused before he turned around to face her. In that moment, her thoughts entered his mind.

_Wait, please. Please wait. Don't go. Don't leave. Wait, please. Please wait. Don't go. Don't leave. Wait, please. Please wait. Don't go. Don't leave._

Her thoughts were playing in repeat, and it took everything in him to not wince as he felt her thoughts grow louder and louder in his head. He tried to gain back his control, but it was in vain.

_Wait, please. Please wait. Don't go. Don't leave. Wait, please. Please wait. Don't go. Don't leave. Wait, please. Please wait. Don't go. Don't leave. Wait, please. Please wait. Don't go. Don't leave. Wait, please. Please wait. Don't go. Don't leave. Wait, please. Please wait. Don't go. Don't leave. Wait, please. Please wait. Don't go. Don't—_

" _Shut up already!_ " Butch yelled as he closed his eyes, grabbing fistfuls of his hair.

Kaoru flinched before she took a step back, completely taken aback.

Butch began to breathe heavily as he slowly gained control. He resisted the urge to let out an animalistic growl, and he _knew_ that his eyes were completely green. He couldn't show _that_ side to her—not now, not yet. Finally, he let out a long sigh as he calmed down before he opened his eyes and glared at Kaoru. "What now?"

Kaoru opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Instead, she thought, _Why are you here?_

The fact that he heard her thoughts just now made Butch frown. It meant that he must've still been weak from her overwhelming thoughts, even though he just regained control. Nonetheless, he replied, "I told you already that I'm here to talk to you about us."

Kaoru blinked in confusion. _How did he—_

"I have the power of telepathy," Butch interrupted, ignoring the fact that Kaoru's eyes widened. "I can only read minds, though. I don't have the ability to communicate telepathically with someone."

_No way._

"Yes way."

Kaoru's mouth dropped.

Butch, however, made no response. Was there a point to staying here? He shouldn't be here, especially after she said that they weren't together anymore. She made it clear that she hated his guts, or at least, he _assumed_ that she hated him. He expected this, but _still_ …

Her thoughts were quiet, and Butch took this as a sign that he managed to gain full control over his telepathy again, which he was thankful for.

"What…did you mean by us?" Kaoru asked softly.

Butch frowned before he said softly, "I wanted to know how you felt about me. Us. The past year." He paused, refraining from adding the fact that he wanted to explain his side of the story. "But, you made it pretty clear that you hate me."

"I don't _hate_ you," Kaoru retorted as she narrowed her eyes.

"You _dumped_ me just now _because_ I'm your enemy."

"Of course I would!"

Butch sighed in frustration, wanting to move on from this subject already.

"At least explain why you and your brothers are back in Tokyo City! And explain why the three of you are older! You shouldn't be about our age right now!"

Butch frowned as he suddenly thought about wanting to explain his side of the story again. Should he explain it to her? She'd relay it to the others, wouldn't she? He frowned as he realized that Brick wouldn't be pleased by that, and he scowled even more when he realized that he _really_ hadn't thought this out. Damn it.

Then again, he _was_ the kind of person to act first, think later.

"Well?!" Kaoru demanded.

Butch made no response as he continued to think about whether or not he should tell her.

Kaoru growled in irritation before she stomped up to him. She was directly in front of him as she glared at him.

At that point, he decided that it was best he didn't tell her. If he told her, that would mean that he'd have to talk about Kuro as well, which would _definitely_ involve the girls. Hell, he couldn't even tell her to be cautious about Kuro because she'd get suspicious about him, and eventually, the girls would figure everything out.

"I can't tell you," Butch replied.

"Why not?!"

"I just can't."

Kaoru growled.

Butch had to get away from this place—away from her, in fact. If he stayed any longer, he would eventually let something slip, and it would ruin _everything_. He had already talked to her about his telepathy. That was good enough, wasn't it?

"I need to go," Butch muttered.

Kaoru's face dropped, but Butch chose to ignore it.

"I'd give you a good-bye kiss, but…" Butch gave her a rueful grin.

"Wait—"

As soon as Kaoru blinked, Butch was gone.


	10. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone! I hope the previous chapter didn't break your hearts too much. (It hurt mine while I wrote it, but it had to be done.)
> 
> Like the previous chapter, this one is 6 pages. Everything is picking up again with this chapter, so...enjoy!

It had been a week since Kaoru encountered Butch at the skate park—a week since they broke up, in fact. During this past week, the massacres happened on a daily basis. The victims were always a group of people, and the massacre would always take place at night. These were the two factors that the police department had determined. Truthfully, there was a third factor: black aura. The police had yet to find a suspect because the third factor of black light was hidden from them; only a selected number of individuals from the police department knew.

After recognizing the pattern, the mayor contacted the Professor, and it was decided that Momoko, Miyako, and Kaoru would start their nightly patrols. On the first night of their nightly patrol, black aura was detected, and the girls rushed to the scene, but they were too late.

It was a sickly sight for the three of them to see.

Kaoru wished she could banish the image from her head, but it was a reminder to her that there was a murderer on the loose. Thus, on that night, she finally decided to tell Momoko and Miyako about her confrontation with Butch. She told them everything he had told her, such as the boys' true identities and Butch's telepathy; she then added that she tried to press Butch to tell her more, but her efforts were in vain. At the end of her monologue, she added softly that she and Butch broke up.

There was a long moment of silence.

Finally, Kaoru asked, "Have they contacted you guys yet?"

Momoko and Miyako shook their heads.

Kaoru sighed.

There was another pause.

Momoko cleared her throat. "As much as I hate to admit it, everything seems to be pointing to them as…the murderers."

"Weren't _you_ the one who kept saying that they _couldn't_ be the murderers?" Kaoru spat, but her tone came off as heavy and burdened instead of bitter.

"I did, but…" Momoko's voice trailed off.

"They _can't_ be the murderers," Miyako muttered, but her voice was loud enough for the other two to hear. Finally, she buried her face in her hands. "They just _can't_ be."

The conversation quickly died afterward, and the trio refrained from bringing up the topic again unless it was necessary.

Kaoru was surprised, to say the least. She had expected that the two would put up more of a fight and defend the boys as the days passed, but as they continued to arrive at the scene of each massacre, the doubt and shock grew in each of them.

Hell, even Kaoru couldn't believe the idea that Butch had killed those people. Did he even have the _guts_ to? This was the same guy who was just a _kid_ years ago—the same guy who had flipped her skirt as a way to mess with her, called her an old hag, and even succumbed to using Him's dark particles in Ancient Egypt, only to be defeated by mere blown kisses.

Then again, did she even _know_ him? After all, he lied to her about his identity.

To make things worse, the girls couldn't even confront the boys. The boys stopped going to school, which caused the school faculty, including Kuro, to ask where they were because the school couldn't contact any of the boys' relatives. In fact, it turned out that the boys' supposed house wasn't even theirs; it had belonged to some newlyweds.

Momoko tried to get some information out of them. The most they could get out of the newlyweds was that the house was rented to them through the Shirogane family. The girls had no idea how to get into contact with Himeko or her family, and even if they appeared as their alter egos, this sort of lead was much too weak to go on. They couldn't risk it, especially since they didn't want to put their alter egos' reputations at risk.

The next best thing the girls did was go to Mojo Jojo's place as their alter egos. When they arrived, Mojo surprisingly opened the door for them. However, before he could even say anything, he was suddenly slammed against the nearest wall by Buttercup.

"All right, spill it!" Buttercup yelled.

"Buttercup!" Blossom exclaimed as she tried to pry Buttercup off of Mojo.

Finally, Buttercup let go of Mojo, who slid to the floor and glared at the girls.

"What do you girls want, mojo?" Mojo asked.

"Where are your sons?" Blossom demanded.

Mojo narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Why?"

"They're suspects," Bubbles said softly as she glanced away.

"For what?"

"That doesn't matter," Blossom replied as she narrowed her eyes. "We need to talk to them."

"Yeah, so where the hell are they?!" Buttercup yelled, and just as she was going to grab Mojo again, Blossom stopped her.

"I don't know, mojo!" Mojo exclaimed.

"Do you know why they came back, at least?" Blossom asked.

"No!"

"I find that _very_ hard to believe."

"Well, you're not getting anything out of me because I _truly_ don't know, mojo!"

"I think he's telling the truth, you two," Bubbles said as she frowned.

However, Buttercup immediately grabbed Mojo again and lifted him into the air with her.

"Buttercup!" Blossom yelled. "Put him down!"

"Not until he tells us _everything!_ " Buttercup snarled.

"I don't know anything!" Mojo exclaimed in fear as his eyes widened.

" _Liar!_ "

"Buttercup!" Bubbles cried. "Please, put him down! Scaring him will do no good!"

Buttercup growled before she dropped him onto the floor.

Mojo groaned in pain. Finally, he muttered in a soft, sad tone, "I don't know anything _because_ my sons don't tell me anything."

At this, the girls froze.

"My sons… When they first came back, I was beyond ecstatic, mojo. I…I thought that perhaps, they had forgiven me, but…I don't think they have. I have tried multiple times to make conversation with them, but…that never worked out." He paused. "I…remember vaguely when I caught them leaving one night, but they never gave me a decent reason as to why. Since then, we rarely talked whenever we were in the house together. They…only make conversation with me when it is necessary."

"Such as?" Blossom asked.

"Such as a note for school to excuse them for their absence. Stuff like that, mojo." Mojo paused again. "Since then, I haven't been home that often."

"Why?" Buttercup demanded as she narrowed her eyes.

"I have been distracting myself, mojo. Staying out of the house and such. I…only wish to live the rest of my days in peace."

There was a long moment of silence as Mojo hung his head and the girls stared at him.

Finally, Bubbles asked, "Mojo, what did you mean by…your sons forgiving you?"

Mojo flinched.

Buttercup narrowed his eyes. "You better spill it, or—"

" _Buttercup_ ," Blossom warned as she glared at her.

Buttercup scoffed.

Mojo didn't say a word, however. He stayed silent, still staring at the floor.

"Mojo, _please_ tell us," Bubbles implored softly.

"I…I cannot," Mojo replied as he closed his eyes and grit his teeth.

"But—"

"I want to forget it ever happened, so _please_ …just leave."

There was a moment of silence as the girls stared at Mojo's anguished face.

Finally, Blossom sighed. "I understand. Come on, girls. Let's go."

Buttercup's eyes widened. "But—"

" _Let's go._ "

Although Buttercup turned around to follow Blossom, Bubbles didn't move an inch. Immediately, Blossom turned back around as she and Buttercup stopped walking.

"Bubbles," Blossom called out.

"I'm not leaving," Bubbles replied.

Blossom and Buttercup both blinked in surprise.

Bubbles stared at Mojo, who finally opened his eyes to look at her. Although she knew that his eyes _pleaded_ with her to leave, she stood firm and frowned. "Mojo, I understand that you want to forget the incident. However, your sons…are _murder suspects_."

At this, Mojo's eyes widened. "What?"

" _Bubbles!_ " Blossom scolded as she narrowed her eyes.

"They're murder suspects for the recent massacres," Bubbles said, ignoring Blossom. She heard Blossom and Buttercup fly up behind her, but said nothing. "That's why it's imperative that you tell us _everything_."

Mojo hesitated.

" _Please_ ," Bubbles pleaded softly.

After yet another moment of silence, Mojo sighed in defeat. "Fine." He paused. "Years ago, before the boys left, I…was wondering why my experiment with them failed."

"Failed?" Blossom asked as she and Buttercup floated downward.

Mojo nodded. "I had wanted to create something that could fight against you girls. Instead, I had gotten the boys. They weren't destructive as I wanted them to be. So…one day, I brought up the idea to my sons." He bit his lip, hesitating to continue.

"And?" Bubbles pressed gently.

Mojo sighed. "The boys…didn't like that idea." He paused. "They refused. We got into arguments many times, and each time, it escalated even more. As a result, the boys began to…rebel." He paused again, taking a deep, shaky breath before exhaling softly. "Nonetheless, I continued to work on a potion that would make the boys older—maybe even stronger… However, this failed horribly."

"Why?" Buttercup asked.

"On the day after I finished the potion, the boys…disappeared."

Blossom narrowed her eyes. "Disappeared?"

"Yes. They suddenly disappeared, along with the potion. There was no note whatsoever left behind to inform me where they went. So, I…assumed that they ran away." At this, Mojo's voice broke, but he cleared his throat. There was another pause as he took a deep breath and exhaled. "When the boys came back, however, they were older—much older than I had expected them to be, so I can only assume that they drank the potion. I'm happy they did, but…as I've said, they refuse to talk to me unless it's necessary." He paused before he lowered his voice and added, "That is why I assume they haven't forgiven me."

Blossom frowned. "I see… Thank you for telling us."

"Yes, even though it pained you, thank you," Bubbles added softly with a small smile.

Buttercup, however, stayed silent, not daring to make eye contact with Mojo.

"You've gotten your answer," Mojo stated as he looked at the floor. "Now, please leave."

The girls complied without saying a word, making sure to close the door on their way out. They flew upward, each having a grim look on their faces, until they were high above the city.

"Now, what?" Buttercup grumbled before she scowled.

Blossom sighed. "I…don't know. If even Mojo Jojo doesn't know where the boys are, then I don't think there's a way we can find them at all."

Buttercup growled. "What about Himeko?"

"We can't just barge into her house and demand for her cooperation for something like this. We're not the police."

"We're the freaking _Powerpuff Girls Z_ , Blossom," Buttercup retorted. "I think that gives us enough power, don't you think?"

"Yes, but we're not involved with the massacre cases, remember?" Bubbles said as she frowned.

"We _should_ be!" Buttercup exclaimed angrily. "For crying out loud, it's obvious by now that the murderer is _someone_ with black light! That narrows it down to _every God damn supervillain in Tokyo City!_ Him's gone, and the majority of the villains aren't even _active_ anymore! You saw Mojo, didn't you?!" Buttercup panted heavily, catching her breath before she added angrily, " _We're_ the ones who had the most experience with dealing supervillains, so why _shouldn't_ we be involved, huh?!"

"I don't _know_ , okay, Buttercup?" Blossom retorted. "Now, calm down—"

"No, I will _not_ calm down—"

"Buttercup—"

"No, _listen_ to me! Who's the enemy that's been active lately, huh?!"

" _Buttercup_ —"

"Everything is pointing to _them_ , and there's _nothing_ we can do about it—"

_Slap!_

Buttercup's eyes were wide as the sting on her cheek sunk in. When the shock finally passed, she slowly turned her head to the culprit.

Bubbles's eyes glistened with tears that looked like they could flow any second as she glared at Buttercup.

"Bubbles…" Buttercup muttered.

"I don't want to believe it!" Bubbles yelled as the tears finally flowed down her cheeks. "Boomer _can't_ have killed them!"

"Bubbles—"

"No!" Bubbles yelled as she shut her eyes, shaking her head. " _He can't have!_ "

Before Buttercup could say anything else, Bubbles flew away from the trio, leaving behind a light blue trail in the sky.

Blossom sighed as she gave a small glare to Buttercup.

"What?" Buttercup asked bitterly, turning away from Blossom.

"You know that she's taking this the hardest out of the three of us, right?" Blossom replied, raising an eyebrow.

Buttercup stayed silent.

Blossom sighed. "I'm going to check on her." She paused. "You want to come with?"

Buttercup scoffed bitterly. "She just _slapped_ me, Blossom. I doubt she wants to see me."

"She snapped, and she didn't mean it. This is _Bubbles_ we're talking about here—"

"That's _exactly_ what I mean," Buttercup snapped, finally facing Blossom. "Gentle Bubbles, who doesn't _dare_ raise her hand and _willingly_ hurt someone—"

"She _snapped_ , Buttercup—"

" _That doesn't matter!_ "

Blossom sighed in aggravation before she repeated, "She didn't mean it." She paused before she flew to Buttercup, grabbing a hold of Buttercup's shoulders and forcing Buttercup to face her. "You _know_ that."

Buttercup looked away and stayed silent, not wanting to reply.

"Buttercup… She needs the _both_ of us right now. More importantly, we _need_ to stay together, _especially_ since there's a murderer out there with black light."

Buttercup gulped inaudibly, and she clenched her fists.

Blossom sighed before she grabbed Buttercup's wrist, forcefully pulling her toward the direction Bubbles flew off in.

Buttercup reluctantly complied without saying a word. After all, the stinging sensation she felt on her cheek reminded her that she was out of line—that maybe she _should_ believe the possibility that the boys weren't the murderers.

But then again, why _should_ she?

Butch _lied_ to her from the very beginning. He did everything he could to make it so she would never find out his true identity. Along the way, he ensnared her little heart, and in the end, he broke it to pieces.

A part of her wondered if he even felt anything from their last exchange. His last words to her… And that grin of his… He just looked so… _different_ —different from the typical Butch that she dealt with for the past year.

Hell, did she mean anything to him? At all?

Finally, Buttercup shook those thoughts from her mind. She hesitated, wondering if she should even say anything. She took a deep breath before she muttered just low enough for Blossom to hear, "You think she'll forgive me?"

Blossom gave her a small smile. "This is _Bubbles_ we're talking about here. Of course she would."

Buttercup stayed silent.

"But that aside, there's still the possibility that the boys aren't the murderers," Blossom said gravely. "I mean…they're only murder _suspects_ …"

Buttercup frowned. "But, they're the _only_ suspects right now."

"Yeah, but I've been thinking about this for a while now, and it just occurred to me that maybe we have another suspect." Blossom paused as she hesitated. "Remember when Butch was beaten by someone a week ago?"

Buttercup flinched.

Blossom noticed this, but decided not to comment on it. "He even refused to tell you the culprit."

"Your point?"

"Well…maybe the murderer is the same person that beat Butch up."

Buttercup stopped flying immediately, which caused Blossom to stop her tracks as well, and she gave Blossom an incredulous look. "Are you freaking _kidding_ me?"

Blossom gave her a sheepish grin. "It's only a theory, and I mean, it's not _that_ absurd, since Butch _is_ a Rowdyruff."

"Meaning?"

" _Meaning_ that no one _human_ could've beaten him to that degree."

Buttercup blinked before her eyes grew wide.

"I mean, think about it. That pretty much narrows it down to every supervillain in town."

"But…none of the supervillains could be the murderer," Buttercup said, furrowing her eyebrows as she frowned. The image of Butch's beaten body occurred in her mind again, and she did her best to shake off her uneasiness.

Blossom sighed in disappointment. "I know. That's why this theory is a total bust."

Buttercup frowned. "Have…you told Bubbles this?"

"No, not yet. I was going to tell her when we catch up to her."

Before Buttercup could reply, Blossom flew off.

Buttercup continued to frown. Her thoughts lingered on all of the puzzle pieces, and she tried to put it together, but none of it made sense. Finally, she sighed in defeat before she flew off as well.

* * *

Butch stood at the doorway with Boomer; both of them stared Brick, who had his back turned to them. There was a long moment of silence between them, each refusing to say a word. Whereas Brick was completely focused on his work, Butch and Boomer were obediently waiting for their red-haired brother to finish.

Finally, Brick let out a long exhale.

Butch grinned. "You finished?"

"Yeah," Brick grumbled before he sighed and turned around, holding up a small tube that had black liquid instead. "It took me a couple of days, but yeah, I managed to finish it."

"Cool!" Boomer exclaimed. "So, does that mean we're done with the current step?"

"No, not yet. I need to test it first."

Butch raised an eyebrow. "How are you going to do _that?_ "

Boomer's eyes widened. "Wait, you're not going to test it on one of _us_ , are you?!"

"No, I'm not," Brick replied as he glared at Boomer.

Boomer grinned sheepishly in response.

"I was thinking of testing it on the girls."

At this, Boomer's grin dropped.

Brick narrowed his eyes when he saw that, but he made no comment.

"If you're going to test it on them, won't you need _a lot_ more of that stuff?" Butch asked, narrowing his eyes at the small tube.

"Well, we're pretty limited with supplies and ingredients down here, so the best I can do is probably make just one more."

"How _much_ more?"

Brick held up the small tube again. "This much, basically."

Butch sighed. "Well, Boomer and I can try to grab you some more stuff you need."

Boomer flinched, realizing that he had been silent this entire time. "Uh, yeah."

"No, it's fine," Brick replied as he turned around and placed the small tube into a tube rack. "We only need to test it on one of the girls, anyway. We don't need to test it on all three of them."

There was a long moment of silence as Brick began to put the multiple amount of beakers, chemicals, and even Chemical Z away, whether it's into the cabinets or just off of the table in general.

Boomer frowned. "So…who are we going to test it on?"

Brick paused in his actions before he turned around to face his brothers, and he frowned as he glared at Boomer.

"I'm only asking!"

"You sure it's not because you don't want it tested on _Bubbles?_ "

Boomer flinched as he stood his ground.

Brick narrowed his eyes. "You do realize that she's the easiest one to get close to, right?"

Boomer's eyes widened. "What?"

Brick sighed in irritation.

"Why not have it tested on Blossom, then?!"

Brick glared at Boomer again. "Blossom is too smart, and having it tested on Buttercup is too risky. Bubbles is the best chance we have."

"But—"

Brick growled, narrowing his eyes.

Butch rolled his eyes as he groaned, not wanting another argument to ensue between his brothers. Finally, he sighed and said, " _I'll_ do the testing."

Boomer blinked in surprise, whereas Brick raised an eyebrow.

A few seconds later, Brick realized who Butch was going to test it on, and he narrowed his eyes at Butch. "We only have _one_ shot at this, you know."

"I know," Butch replied before he sneered. "Don't worry, man. I'll get her to take it. _Trust me._ "


	11. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone! So, I really overshot it with this chapter because it's 12 pages long. This chapter has a lot of content going on, which is why it took me a while to post this, excluding the technical difficulties I had, and why this chapter is so long. I know many of you don't mind reading long chapters, though, so enjoy!

Kaoru was currently near the shoe lockers, and the area was mostly empty by now because it was already the end of the school day. She, Momoko, and Miyako had planned that they'd meet up and then head to the laboratory after school was over in order to discuss more about Momoko's theory from yesterday.

Kaoru let out a small grimace as she remembered the tension between her and Miyako. Thankfully, Miyako had forgiven her, which, of course, wasn't surprising, but Kaoru still felt guilty about it.

"Well, you're looking rather glum today."

Kaoru flinched before she turned around to face the person, who was none other than Kuro. She then blinked a few times in surprise at Kuro's formal attire.

Kuro sent a small mischievous grin. "Do I really look _that_ different?"

"Yeah, you do," Kaoru said bluntly as she frowned.

It wasn't a total lie, of course. When he first showed up to her class, his attire screamed pretty bad boy. Now, he wore black slacks with a white dress shirt. His black hair was still slicked back, but without those shades on his face, which revealed his deep blue eyes, his appearance fit that of an intern or a businessman rather than a delinquent.

"Where are Akatsutsumi-san and Gotokuji-san?" Kuro asked.

"They're coming," Kaoru replied, still frowning. "I'm just waiting for them."

"I see."

There was a short pause before Kaoru narrowed her eyes. "Is there something you want from me?"

"No, nothing in particular," Kuro replied as he smiled. "I just happened to pass by and saw you all alone, so I became concerned. That's all."

"Well, I'm fine—"

"Are you _really?_ "

Kaoru's eyes widened in surprise at his strange, mysterious tone as she stared at Kuro.

There was a ghost of a smile on Kuro's lips as he stared back at her, not saying another word.

Kaoru then regained her composure and frowned. "I'm fine."

"All right," Kuro replied, still smiling.

At that very moment, Kaoru felt a strange sense of uneasiness build up inside of her. Her gut instinct was telling her to be on guard, so she narrowed her eyes in response.

Kuro's smile dropped. "Oh, my, you don't need to be that angry. I was only worried about you."

Kaoru blinked in surprise before she shook her head. What was she _doing?_

Ever since the girls started their nightly patrols again, it meant less sleep for the three of them. It had been a long time since the trio were so sleep deprived due to superheroine duties. Besides, even when Kaoru tried to sleep, her thoughts would typically keep her up due to the countless questions and puzzle pieces that just wouldn't go together, and she surmised that both Momoko and Miyako probably felt the same. Maybe all of this sleep deprivation was finally getting to her, if she was willing to snap at a faculty member—or, well, an intern, at least.

Kaoru sighed and gave Kuro a sheepish grin. "Sorry. I'm just tired."

"Oh, you must be stressed from your studies," Kuro replied in concern before he gave a small smile. "In that case, if you ever need any coffee, just stop by the faculty office."

Kaoru raised an eyebrow. "But, don't I need a good reason to be in there?"

Kuro playfully winked at her. "Don't worry about that. If you stop by later before I leave, I can even give your friends some coffee."

"Thanks, but no thanks."

Kuro chuckled. "I see. Well, I need to head back to the faculty office now because there's a meeting." He paused. "The offer still stands whenever you're up for it."

Kaoru didn't bother to reply as she watched Kuro leave, and as if on cue, she witnessed Momoko and Miyako coming down the staircase. She frowned as the two walked toward her. "You weren't there the entire time, were you?"

"Partially," Miyako replied honestly with a sheepish smile.

"Maybe we should take up on his offer for coffee," Momoko muttered before she covered her mouth as she yawned.

Kaoru grimaced. "No."

Momoko raised an eyebrow. "Why not? It's free coffee."

"You want to deal with his fan girls?" Kaoru retorted dryly.

Momoko blinked a few times before she grimaced. "Good point."

"Shouldn't we head out now?" Miyako asked.

"Yeah, we should," Momoko replied before she covered her mouth and yawned again.

Kaoru raised an eyebrow. "Wow, maybe you _do_ need coffee."

Momoko sent her a small glare. "Oh, like you're not tired, too."

Before Kaoru could retort, however, their compacts went off, and the girls' eyes widened.

"Do we go back up the stairs to get to the rooftop?" Miyako whispered. "It'll be a little suspicious, wouldn't it?"

"It would be," Momoko whispered before she frowned. "Just follow me."

Surprisingly, Kaoru made no complaint, and she and Miyako followed the redhead.

The trio left the school and discreetly made their way to the nearest empty alleyway.

Kaoru groaned. "Here? Seriously?"

"Yes, because there could be someone on the school rooftop by now," Momoko replied.

Kaoru was too tired to retort, so she sighed in defeat.

Without another word, they transformed.

Blossom took out her compact, and she saw the Professor on the screen. "Professor, what's the emergency?"

"Head to the laboratory immediately," the Professor replied with a grim look on his face.

Before Blossom could even ask why, the screen suddenly cut off, and she blinked as she was taken aback.

"What the hell?" Buttercup asked as she frowned.

"It's not like the Professor to do that…" Bubbles muttered.

"Let's just head to the laboratory," Blossom said as the trio slowly floated upward. Once they were in the sky, she added, "Maybe the Professor will tell us the details then."

Buttercup scoffed as the trio began flying to the laboratory. "He better. Otherwise, we would've transformed for nothing."

Blossom rolled her eyes. "I'm sure he had a good reason."

Buttercup frowned, but said nothing.

Finally, the trio arrived at the laboratory, so they landed on the ground in front of the door.

Blossom rang the doorbell, but after a minute passed, no one came to the door.

"This is strange," Bubbles muttered as she became worried. "Wouldn't someone have answered the door by now?"

Blossom narrowed her eyes before she rang the doorbell again. There was still no answer, so Blossom tried to turn the doorknob, but it remained in one place.

Buttercup glared before she began pounding on the door. "Professor! Ken! Peach! Is anyone in there?!"

Once again, there was no response.

"Girls, I'm getting a very bad feeling about this," Bubbles whispered as she frowned.

As if on cue, the door eerily opened, making a creaking sound in the process.

The girls' eyes widened at this, but nonetheless, they entered the dark laboratory.

"What the hell?" Buttercup muttered as she narrowed her eyes.

_Slam!_

The girls looked back to find that the door shut behind them. At that point, they were on their guard as they moved forward. Finally, they arrived in the living room, which looked the same as ever.

"Professor?" Blossom called out, her eyes darting around the room.

"Ken? Peach?" Bubbles then called out, and when there was no response, she frowned.

Buttercup scowled. "What the hell is going on here?"

Within seconds, the place lit up, which caused the girls' eyes to blink in order to adjust to the sudden bright lighting.

"Hello, Powerpuff Girls Z."

The girls flinched, each of their eyes widening when they looked at the direction of the voice.

There, floating on the far end of the living room in front of the windows, were none other than the Rowdyruff Boys Z. Brick glowered at the trio, Boomer stared at them blankly, and Butch grinned wickedly. Slowly, they floated downward, allowing their feet to land softly on the flooring.

"How nice of you to drop in," Brick stated stoically, his eyes narrowing when the girls slipped into their fighting stances as they stood side-by-side.

"What did you do to the Professor?!" Blossom exclaimed.

Brick stared at Blossom for a brief moment, but said nothing.

"Answer me!"

Brick continued to ignore Blossom. His eyes flickered to Butch.

Butch noticed this, so he raised an eyebrow.

Brick's eyes narrowed. " _Do it._ "

Butch grinned before he set his eyes on Buttercup, who immediately went into a defensive stance.

As soon as Buttercup blinked, however, Butch was gone, and her eyes widened. "What?!"

"Buttercup!" Bubbles exclaimed. "Behind you!"

Immediately, Butch wrapped his arms around Buttercup's waist and her arms.

Blossom tried to launch her yo-yo at Butch, but Brick was already there within a flash, and her eyes widened.

Brick's eyes narrowed before he grabbed a hold of her yo-yo's string and threw both Blossom and her yo-yo to the other side of the room. His eyes glinted with annoyance, however, when Blossom wasn't hurt by the impact against the windows, and he flew towards her.

" _Blossom!_ " Bubbles screamed, and she tried to fly to Blossom, but Boomer immediately obscured her path. She took a step backward as she gasped. "Boomer?"

"Sorry, Bubbles, but I can't let you advance," Boomer said as he smiled.

Meanwhile, Butch slowly lifted Buttercup into the air.

Buttercup tried to turn around and move, but for some reason, her strength wasn't working. Just as soon as she tried to summon her hammer, she felt Butch's hand on her jaw.

"You're definitely going to hate me for this," Butch whispered to her.

Buttercup's eyes widened. "What the hell are you—"

Within a swift motion, Buttercup felt her mouth forced open by Butch's hand as her head was forcibly pushed against Butch's shoulder. Before she could even try to close her mouth, she felt some sort of liquid enter her mouth.

" _Drink_ ," Butch commanded, his eyes narrowing when some of the liquid began to spill out of her mouth.

" _Buttercup!_ " Blossom and Bubbles screamed.

Buttercup tried to move about, but it was in vain, and reluctantly, she felt herself swallow whatever the liquid was. Within seconds, she felt herself…weaken? No, she couldn't even tell. She still continued to thrash about in Butch's arms, except this time, it _hurt_. She winced in pain as her mind became clouded with confusion.

Butch finally let her go, which Buttercup was relieved about.

However, before she could even try to attack him, she _fell_. Her body made a loud thud as it impacted against the floor, and she groaned in pain.

"Buttercup!" Blossom yelled again.

"Are you all right?!" Bubbles screamed.

Buttercup slowly lifted her head to see that Butch's brothers were still holding Blossom and Bubbles off, blocking their pathways to Buttercup. Her head immediately snapped to look at Butch, and she glared at him.

Butch, however, didn't even bother to look at her. In fact, he was inspecting some sort of tube in his hand, which still had liquid inside, and he whistled. " _Huh._ "

Brick raised an eyebrow at this.

"There's still some left," Butch called to his brothers, whose heads perked, and Butch immediately threw it to Brick on the other side of the room.

Of course, Buttercup tried to intercept it by getting up, but her body ached from the impact. She even tried to summon her hammer, but when it didn't come, no matter how many times she called for it in her head, she blinked in confusion as she muttered, "What the hell?"

Brick caught the tube successfully, and he glanced at Blossom out of the corner of his eye.

Immediately, Buttercup's eyes widened as she knew what Brick was going to do. "Blossom, _run!_ "

Unfortunately, it was too late.

Within seconds, Brick slammed Blossom down against the floor. Even as Blossom struggled, he forced her mouth to open and made her drink the liquid inside the tube.

" _Blossom!_ " Buttercup yelled again. Her face paled when Brick floated upward as she heard Blossom's coughing, and her head shot to Bubbles. "Bubbles, _run!_ "

Bubbles was distraught, and she tried to move past Boomer, but he continued to block her pathway.

"Boomer!" Brick called out.

Boomer looked at Brick out of the corner of his eye.

Brick narrowed his eyes before he threw the tube at Boomer, who caught it successfully.

Bubbles gulped inaudibly as she floated backward away from Boomer, her eyes wide with fear.

Boomer stared at the remaining liquid inside the tube for a brief moment before he looked at Bubbles, and finally, he gave her a rueful smile.

Bubbles' eyes widened before her body was slammed against the nearest wall.

"I'm sorry," Boomer whispered, a regretful look etched on his face, before he forced her mouth to open and shoved the tube toward her mouth.

Bubbles tried to move, but even she herself succumbed to drinking the liquid. Finally, she began to slide down against the wall, wondering why was it that she didn't have the ability to float. She expected the sudden painful impact once she landed on the floor, but instead, Boomer had caught her. Her eyes glistened as she stared at him. "Boomer…"

Boomer made no response as he helped her sit gently onto the floor, not daring to make eye contact with her. Within seconds, he was beside his brothers, floating in the air again.

Slowly, Blossom tried to sit up to at least make eye contact with Brick, and her eyes narrowed. " _What_ did you make us drink?"

Once again, Brick ignored her as Boomer handed him the empty tube.

" _Brick!_ "

"You're smart, _Momoko_ ," Brick replied, his eyes darting to her when he noticed how her expression instantly changed from a look of anger to a look of pure betrayal and hurt. In fact, he could've sworn that those eyes of hers held some amount of affection for him as well. Nonetheless, he added, "I'm sure you know what happened, right?"

"What happened to us?" Bubbles asked softly, her head turning to Blossom on the other side of the room.

"That liquid…took away our _powers_ ," Blossom croaked.

Buttercup growled as her fists clenched.

"Precisely," Brick stated before he glared at Blossom. "If you know what's best for you, then you girls will no longer involve yourselves with the series of massacres around the city."

"So you _are_ behind them!" Buttercup spat, glaring at the boys as she ignored the fact that the other girls' faces had paled.

Butch cackled in response.

Buttercup growled again. "What's so funny?!"

Butch ignored Buttercup, however, and he grinned while raising an eyebrow at Brick. "Hey, can I tell them?"

Brick sent him a small glare.

"Tell us _what?_ " Buttercup demanded, her eyes narrowing.

Butch raised his eyebrow even further at Brick.

"We may as well tell them," Boomer whispered, his gaze shifting to Bubbles momentarily before he looked at his brothers again.

Brick glanced at his brothers once before he looked at Blossom, whose face was still pale. After a brief moment of contemplation and silence, he finally grunted.

Butch smirked before his gaze finally shifted toward Buttercup. "We're _not_ the murderers."

The girls' eyes each widened.

"We know that you girls have that dog to detect black light," Brick stated before he narrowed his eyes. "However, that wasn't _our_ black light."

"Why should we believe you?!" Buttercup yelled.

" _Buttercup!_ " Blossom exclaimed, narrowing her eyes.

"It's up to you on whether or not to believe us," Boomer replied, but his eyes shifted to Bubbles, who had made eye contact with him. In that very moment, his eyes softened, almost _pleading_ with her to believe them.

Bubbles's eyes widened further when she realized this. Nonetheless, she averted her gaze, not knowing how to feel.

Boomer felt his heart drop, but he said nothing as he glanced away as well.

"Then, who's the _real_ murderer?" Blossom demanded.

Brick ignored Blossom, and he looked at his brothers. "Let's go."

" _Brick!_ "

Brick narrowed his eyes at Blossom, still ignoring her questions. "That liquid each of you drank will wear off exactly one month from now."

The girls' faces each paled.

Brick sent a small dark smirk of his own. "We'll be back to deal with you girls before that happens, of course."

As soon as the girls blinked, the boys were gone.

"Where did they go?!" Buttercup exclaimed as she winced while standing up. Her body still felt sore from the impact, so she leaned against the nearest wall for support. She glanced at the other two, who were slowly standing up.

"I don't know," Blossom replied grimly. "They've disappeared."

"Girls, what about the Professor, Ken, and Peach?" Bubbles exclaimed, her eyes wide.

Blossom's and Buttercup's eyes widened.

"Damn it!" Buttercup yelled before she slammed her fist as hard as she could against the wall, and she winced in pain when it _hurt_.

"Are you all right?" Bubbles asked in concern.

Buttercup grunted as she flexed her hand. "Yeah… I'm fine."

"For now, let's split up and look around," Blossom said, sighing at Buttercup's action. "They must be around here somewhere."

Kaoru winced again, still feeling the sting of pain, before she frowned. "And if not?"

Blossom narrowed her eyes. "Let's hope that's not the case."

Afterward, the trio ran around, searching for the Professor, Ken, or Peach. They couldn't use any of their powers or superhuman abilities anymore; they were resorted to mere human beings, even though they still wore their alter egos' uniforms. Nonetheless, that didn't stop their determination to find the Professor, Ken, and Peach.

Finally, the girls managed to find them.

Apparently, the Professor and Ken were in their rooms, completely knocked out, whereas Peach was asleep next to Ken. However, the Professor and Ken still wore their lab coats instead of their pajamas. The three of them continued to sleep soundly without a care in the world.

The girls then closed the bedroom doors, and they stood outside in the hallway, each in deep thought.

Bubbles sighed in relief. "It doesn't look like the boys hurt them."

"If they did, I would've kicked their asses," Buttercup grumbled.

Bubbles blinked in confusion. "They took away our powers, though."

"So?! I _still_ would've kicked their asses!"

Bubbles couldn't help but laugh sheepishly in response.

Blossom examined her gloved hands, seeing that she was still in her outfit, and her eyes narrowed. "I just don't understand…"

"What?" Buttercup asked, raising an eyebrow.

"If the boys took away our powers, then why are we still in our Powerpuff Girls Z uniforms?"

Buttercup shrugged. "Maybe because it's temporary? They said it would only last a month."

"It's not like back then—when we fought against Him and had to sacrifice our white light, I mean," Bubbles muttered, smiling weakly as she thought of the memory.

"Yeah, but our powers still came back in the end."

"I think she's referring to how when we sacrificed our white light, our uniforms disappeared with it," Blossom stated before she raised an eyebrow at the blonde. "Right?"

Bubbles nodded in response.

Buttercup frowned. "Okay, well, in that case…" Buttercup's voice trailed off as she shrugged again.

"They don't want us to involve ourselves with the murders anymore, either," Blossom said, slightly frowning as she tilted her head in confusion. "It would make sense if they're the murderers—"

"They're not," Bubbles interrupted firmly.

At that moment, Blossom and Buttercup blinked in surprise.

"I saw how Boomer looked at me," Bubbles muttered, her eyes softening. "I…I believe them. I believe that they aren't the murderers." She paused before adding softly, "Even though they did this to us."

"But, that's my point," Blossom said, gaining the attention of the other two again. "If they aren't the murderers, then why make us drink…whatever that liquid was?"

"They don't want to involve us," Buttercup said bluntly.

"No, I _know_ Brick, okay?" Blossom paused as she hesitated to add the fact that she did date him for a year, after all. "Anyway, I doubt Brick would just do it for a shallow reason like that—"

"Okay, because they want to _destroy_ us."

Blossom narrowed her eyes at Buttercup.

Buttercup rolled her eyes. "I'm only stating the facts."

"And you don't think they might've done it for a deeper reason?"

"Why would they?! They wanted to destroy us from day one, right? Then, there you go! There's your reason!"

Blossom groaned in aggravation. "You're not getting my point—"

"More like you're not seeing the bigger picture here!"

"You two, please, stop arguing!" Bubbles exclaimed. "Now's not the time to argue!"

Blossom sighed before she agreed.

Buttercup, however, just scoffed in response.

Blossom tapped her foot for a few minutes as silence ensued. Eventually, she began to pace around in the hallway.

"Oh, God, there she goes with the pacing again," Buttercup mumbled.

Bubbles shushed her.

"Let's just start from the beginning, girls," Blossom said, still pacing. "Throw stuff at me."

Buttercup and Bubbles glanced at each other before shrugging.

"How far back are we talking?" Buttercup asked, raising an eyebrow.

Blossom paused in her pacing as she frowned. "Okay, let's start with the night of the first massacre, then."

"The murderer killed a group of teenagers," Bubbles stated.

Blossom began pacing again. "It was on the night of the full moon, right?"

Bubbles nodded. "I believe so, yes."

"Okay, _why_ did that happen?"

Bubbles blinked before she glanced at Buttercup.

"Don't look at me," Buttercup said as she frowned. "I don't know."

Bubbles pouted. "But, I don't know either."

"Okay, there we go!" Blossom exclaimed as she stopped pacing and looked at them. "We don't know _why_ they were murdered."

Buttercup narrowed her eyes. "So…are you trying to find a motive?"

Blossom frowned and bit her lip. "Maybe."

"'Maybe?'" Buttercup repeated in disbelief.

"Right now, it's best if we try to put everything together. Maybe then, we can figure out why the boys came back and everything."

"But, the boys aren't connected to the massacres," Bubbles said as she frowned. "Aren't those two separate things?"

Blossom sighed. "I don't know, honestly, but for now, let's try to figure out the massacres."

"Which we _can't_ because we're not involved with the police investigation," Buttercup said dryly.

Blossom narrowed her eyes.

"I'm _just_ saying. We know that it's someone with black light, right? If the boys aren't the murderers, then that means that one of the supervillains in Tokyo City is behind the massacres."

"But, that's the thing," Blossom retorted as she narrowed her eyes. " _Why?_ What's their motive? The supervillains _never_ killed anyone in the past before, so why _now?_ "

Buttercup and Bubbles both frowned.

"Now that you put it that way, that _does_ raise a few questions," Bubbles muttered.

" _Exactly_ ," Blossom said as she began to pace again.

"But, that still doesn't change the fact that we're limited on information, you know," Buttercup replied. "We're not involved with the investigation, remember? So, maybe the police department has it figured out already—"

Blossom gasped as she stopped pacing before she ran up to Buttercup and grabbed a hold of her shoulders. "That's it!"

Buttercup blinked a few times, her eyes still wide with shock. "Uh, what?"

"Oh, why didn't I see it sooner?!" Blossom exclaimed as she pulled away with a grin. "We can ask the Mayor!"

Bubbles blinked a few times before her eyes went wide. "About the investigation?"

Blossom nodded her head enthusiastically.

"Not to rain on your parade or anything, but would he even know _anything_ about it?" Buttercup asked as she frowned.

"Black light is involved," Blossom retorted. "Of _course_ he would know!"

"Okay, but will he _tell_ us?"

"Maybe he can't tell us the details of the investigation, but since black light is involved, he can at least tell us about the supervillains' statuses in Tokyo City!"

At that point, Buttercup's and Bubbles' eyes widened in realization.

"See?!" Blossom exclaimed enthusiastically. "We know that the murderer is one of them, so if there's even just one villain that's out of place from the rest, then we can put them on the list of suspects!"

"Wait, wait, wait," Buttercup said, raising an arm to stop Blossom from continuing. "It's already been a while since the massacres started. Don't you think the police department—the ones that know about the black light, at least—would have their own list of suspected supervillains already?"

At once, the enthusiastic smile disappeared from Blossom's face.

Bubbles frowned and gave Buttercup a stern look.

"Well, _excuse_ me for coming up with plausible reasons!" Buttercup exclaimed sarcastically as she threw her arms into the air.

"No, you're right," Blossom stated after she sighed. "I got so excited that I completely forgot that the murderer might be the one who attacked Butch from a week ago."

Buttercup flinched.

Blossom saw this and gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry."

"No, it's fine," Buttercup muttered, averting her gaze, and when she felt Bubbles rubbing her back comfortingly, she sighed softly.

"So, does this mean that the murderer is someone who holds a grudge against the boys and is a supervillain?" Bubbles asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Possibly," Blossom replied as she frowned. "There's still no motive behind the massacres."

Buttercup cleared her throat.

Blossom and Bubbles looked at her with puzzled expressions.

"What is it?" Blossom asked.

"Uh, well…" Buttercup frowned. "I just realized that since we don't have our superpowers anymore…" Her voice trailed off as the other girls' eyes widened in realization.

"Oh, _God_ …"

Bubbles covered her face with her hands.

"Yeah…" Buttercup muttered as she began to scratch her head.

There was a moment of silence.

Finally, Blossom let out a long sigh. "That's fine. We can still do our best to do nightly patrols."

Buttercup frowned. "But—"

"We can discuss that with the Professor after he wakes up."

Buttercup didn't reply, but she continued to frown.

"Okay, so far, we figured out two aspects of the murderer already: they're a supervillain, and it's someone who has a grudge against the boys, if they're willing to beat…" Blossom's voice trailed off as she glanced at Buttercup, who averted her gaze again.

"I said it's fine," Buttercup muttered before she looked at Blossom.

Blossom cleared her throat. "Right. Um, anyway, let's try to figure out why the boys gave us that liquid."

Buttercup rolled her eyes. "Didn't we just talk about this a few minutes ago?"

Blossom sent a small glare. "Yes, but I can't help but think there's a deeper reason behind it."

" _Why?_ "

"Well…it's _Brick_."

Buttercup blinked a few times blankly as Blossom's expression dropped into a sad smile.

"I just… I've been with him for a long while, okay? We've been through a lot together, just like how _you_ felt with Butch"—Blossom then looked at Bubbles—"and how _you_ felt with Boomer." Blossom paused, looking at the floor. "I _know_ Brick. I know that he did this to us for _some_ reason. He wouldn't do it for a shallow reason of just destroying us or even not wanting to involve us."

Bubbles' eyes softened. "But—"

"If they were going to destroy us, why didn't they do it right then and there—right when we lost our powers?" Blossom interrupted, her voice cracking as she looked at Buttercup and Bubbles again. "They could've _easily_ obliterated us."

Buttercup's eyes widened, whereas Bubbles bit her lip.

" _See?_ " Blossom pressed as she wrapped her arms around herself and looked at the floor again. "And if they really did it to not involve us, then…doesn't that mean…" Her eyes held that hopeful gaze as she looked at the other two once more.

Buttercup wanted to retort to her, but instead, she sighed and looked away.

Bubbles, on the other hand, looked…conflicted.

Blossom let out a bitter laugh. "I guess you girls don't agree with me?"

"No, I do," Bubbles replied softly. "I just…can't believe they'd do this to us. Isn't it better that we have our powers, especially with a murderer on the loose?"

"Yeah, especially considering how we could be the next victims," Buttercup added dryly.

Bubbles flinched and then sent her a small glare. "That's not something to joke about!"

"Hey, I only said that _because_ you had a point. Jeez…"

Blossom sighed. "Either way, none of this is making any sense whatsoever."

Just then, one of the bedroom doors opened, and the girls turned to see that it was the Professor, who still looked rather sleepy, but blinked in surprise when he saw them.

The Professor covered his mouth as he yawned. "Oh, girls, you're here."

"Professor!" the girls exclaimed in relief.

The Professor tilted his head in confusion as he blinked. "Would you happen to know why I ended up in my bedroom after contacting you girls?"

The girls glanced at each other nervously, but the Professor didn't seem to notice because he was too sleepy.

"What do you remember?" Blossom asked in concern.

The Professor blinked a few times as he tried to recall the events. "Oh, well, Peach had detected black light near the laboratory… Then, I contacted you girls, but the next thing I knew, the power suddenly cut off." He paused and began to tilt his head in confusion. "Everything after that is…a blur, I'm afraid."

"Well, the Rowdyruff Boys Z had gotten to you, Ken, and Peach," Bubbles stated as she walked closer to the Professor.

The Professor's eyes widened in shock, suddenly much more awake now. "What?! Really?!"

The girls nodded in response.

"Are you sure you're not hurt?" Buttercup asked as she frowned.

"Yes, I'm fine," the Professor replied frantically before he took a step forward, causing the girls to move out of the way. He then looked around, shooting his head in every direction. "Where's Ken and Peach?"

"In Ken's room," Blossom replied.

The Professor then calmed down and sighed in relief.

"They seem to be fine. It looks like they were knocked out like you, Professor."

The Professor then blinked a few times before he stood up with his back straight. "Wait, did you girls encounter the boys?!"

The girls each nodded grimly in unison.

"And unfortunately, we've…lost our powers," Blossom muttered.

The Professor's eyes widened. " _What?!_ "

"It's true," Bubbles replied softly as she frowned. "The boys made us drink this…strange liquid, so we lost our powers."

"No, no, no, no, that can't be," the Professor muttered. "But, you girls should have—"

"No matter how many times we try to activate our powers, we _can't_ , okay?" Buttercup interrupted as she scowled. "We can't fly or do anything superhuman, Professor."

"You girls are still in your uniforms, though…"

"We know," Blossom stated. "We were just talking about that." She paused as she glanced away. "Among…other things…"

The Professor, however, seemed deep in thought, so he didn't catch the last thing Blossom had said. Finally, he narrowed his eyes and frowned as he asked out loud, "Could it be that it was the _boys_ who stole the Chemical Z?"

Blossom blinked. "I thought there wasn't anything on the video, though. Whatever that was caught on film by the security camera was too fast to see."

"Yes, but Bubbles said that it was the boys who made you girls drink a strange liquid, correct?"

The girls nodded in unison.

"And now, you've lost your powers."

The girls nodded in unison again, but much more slowly this time.

The Professor sighed grimly as he looked at the floor, and a long silence ensued.

The girls looked at each other in anxiety before they glanced at the Professor.

Finally, the Professor stood straight and looked at them with a grim look. "I don't know if I'm correct about this, but…I'm afraid that you girls might've drank Antidote Z."

There was another short moment of silence.

"Uh, _what?_ " Buttercup asked, breaking the silence.

"The liquid was black, correct?" the Professor asked, ignoring Buttercup.

Blossom nodded.

"It tasted bitter as hell," Buttercup replied bluntly as she grimaced and stuck out her tongue in disgust.

"Then, I _am_ right," the Professor said as he frowned. "You girls _did_ drink Antidote Z."

Bubbles frowned. "Yes, but what exactly _is_ that, Professor?"

The Professor sighed. "I started working on a new experiment a few months ago to see if I can reverse the effects that Chemical Z causes."

"Why?" Buttercup asked as she frowned.

"Well, I became curious as to whether or not I could do it. I _am_ a scientist, after all."

"That's some bullshit reason!"

" _Buttercup!_ " Blossom replied as she narrowed her eyes at Buttercup.

The Professor ignored Buttercup's outburst, however. "I had also done it because I am still curious about the white light in you girls. When you had sacrificed your white light years ago, you lost your powers and, in effect, your uniforms as well." He paused as he surveyed their uniforms again. "You were fed the Antidote Z, but your uniforms haven't disappeared, yet your powers did… I should make note of that later."

Buttercup narrowed her eyes. "Don't tell me that you had written the notes for Antidote Z and they were stolen during the break-in."

"Actually, no, they weren't. They're still on my desk in the laboratory."

"Then, how the hell do you know that they gave us Antidote Z?!"

"Buttercup, _please_ , calm down," Bubbles said, frowning.

Buttercup scoffed.

"I can only assume that the boys somehow managed to make a copy," the Professor replied as he frowned. "Either that, or one of them must've had astounding memory, if he's able to go through all of my notes and memorize the entire recipe and my formulas in such a short time."

Buttercup then sent Blossom a small glare.

"What?" Blossom asked as she frowned.

"Oh, you _know_ why I'm giving you this look. Don't pretend to be innocent about it!"

"What are you talking about?!"

"I'm blaming Brick for this, genius!"

"So?! You don't need to glare at me! It's not like it's _my_ fault!"

"Girls, _please!_ " Bubbles exclaimed.

The Professor ignored the small bickering among the girls before he muttered out loud, "But why would they need Antidote Z?"

"Maybe to give it to us?" Buttercup deadpanned before she added dryly, " _Which they did._ "

"Blossom thinks it's connected to the massacres," Bubbles stated.

The Professor blinked in surprise. "Excuse me?"

Blossom nodded slowly. "When the boys gave us Antidote Z, Brick told us that we shouldn't involve ourselves with the…massacres anymore." Blossom grimaced slightly, but quickly regained her composure. "And I _know_ Brick. I think there's a much deeper reason behind why they gave us Antidote Z. We've also deduced that the murderer has to be a supervillain that has a grudge against the boys."

"A grudge against the boys?" the Professor asked, narrowing his eyes.

Blossom nodded again.

"Remember when Butch got attacked?" Buttercup asked, ignoring the surprised looks from both Blossom and Bubbles because she had said it so casually, and she nodded towards Blossom. "Blossom here thinks that the person who attacked Butch is a murder suspect."

"On what basis?" the Professor asked, now frowning.

"Butch is a Rowdyruff," Buttercup replied bluntly.

The Professor raised an eyebrow at this.

Blossom sighed. "What she meant to say was that since the boys are the Rowdyruffs and they're older, they must be stronger than your average human."

"And why aren't the boys the murderers?"

"Because they had said so."

The Professor continued to frown before he sighed in sympathy. "Girls, I am aware that you have been in a relationship with them—I don't know if you still are, of course—but just because they said so isn't enough evidence—"

"I believe them," Bubbles interrupted with a firm voice. "So, please, Professor, you must believe _us._ "

"Of course I believe you girls. I just…don't exactly trust _them._ "

"Well, you have no choice but to," Buttercup retorted as she scowled. "The boys are innocent, and that's that."

Blossom cleared her throat before the Professor could reply. "That aside, Professor, what about our nightly patrols? We can't exactly patrol the entire city if we've lost our powers."

The Professor blinked in realization. "Yes, yes, that's very true…" The Professor frowned again as he narrowed his eyes. "Have you girls tried transforming back into your regular selves yet?"

The girls shook their heads.

"Please do so."

The girls blinked in confusion and looked at each other. They each shrugged before they transformed into their regular selves.

"I see… Now, transform back into the Powerpuff Girls Z."

"What? Why?" Kaoru asked as she scowled.

"Please do so. It's very important in regards to Antidote Z."

" _Why?_ "

The Professor sighed. "I had never tested it before."

The girls's eyes went wide. " _What?!_ "

"I only had the notes and recipe for creating it. I hadn't gotten around to attempting to create it due to the recent massacres happening. _Supposedly_ , the liquid is black. Since Chemical Z, a very important ingredient to creating Antidote Z, was stolen and what you girls drank was a black liquid that stripped you of your powers, I need to take note of any possible side effects. Understand?"

The girls slowly nodded.

"If you do, then please transform back into the Powerpuff Girls Z."

The girls complied, and the transformation was a success.

The Professor then frowned. "Strange, very strange… And you still can't use your powers?"

Buttercup lifted her arm to summon her hammer, but nothing appeared, so she frowned. "Nope."

"And I can't summon my wand," Bubbles muttered sadly.

Blossom sighed. "I can't summon my yo-yo either."

The Professor continued to frown. "I see… Well, I'll go contact the Mayor right now about what had just transpired. For now, please stay here to look after my son and Peach. They might wake up soon."

"Wait, Professor, will you tell the Mayor about our theory on the murderer?" Blossom asked.

"Yes, I will." The Professor paused. "I'm…not sure if it's enough since there's no concrete evidence, but it _may_ help with the investigation."

"Can we also get a status on all of the supervillains?"

The Professor blinked in confusion. "Excuse me?"

"She meant if they're still active doing their supervillain stuff," Buttercup replied as she rolled her eyes.

"I understood perfectly clear. I'm just trying to understand _why_ you girls would want that sort of information."

The girls each glanced at each other before pleadingly looking at the Professor again.

After a few seconds, the Professor sighed in defeat. "I can't guarantee if the Mayor can disclose that information with me, but I'll try my best to get him to." He paused. "Just…don't do anything reckless, especially since you're vulnerable now, girls."

"We understand, Professor," Blossom replied.

Bubbles nodded afterward, and although Buttercup groaned at first, she nodded as well.

The Professor sighed in relief and gave a soft smile. "I'll take your word for it."

Without another word, the Professor walked away.

When the Professor was finally out of sight, the girls transformed back into their regular selves.

Finally, Kaoru let out a long sigh as her shoulders drooped.

"What's wrong?" Miyako asked in concern.

"I don't know about you two, but…I just have a _really_ bad feeling," Kaoru muttered.

Momoko frowned before she raised an eyebrow. "About?"

Kaoru scowled as multiple thoughts went through her head about the events that had just transpired, and finally, she let out another long sigh. " _Everything._ "


	12. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My goodness, I can't believe I finally managed to get this up... I was hoping it wouldn't take this long, but since I was so busy, it was difficult to continually work on this while adhering to what I had planned for so long now. Anyway, this chapter is 8 pages long, so enjoy!

That evening, Kaoru stared at the night sky from her bedroom window as she resisted the urge to punch the wall.

After Professor Utonium came back from conversing with the Mayor, he had a grim look on his face. Since the Mayor found out that the girls' powers had disappeared, the girls were told to cease all their superheroine activities and to leave the ongoing massacres to the police department. Of course, the girls protested to this idea, but it had already been finalized.

To make matters worse, Professor Utonium had also told the girls that the Mayor refused to disclose any of the supervillains' activity statuses to him. According to the Mayor, the police were already working on this, and telling the girls the supervillains' current statuses would only further involve the girls. Since they were now vulnerable, it was best that the girls tried to stay as safe as possible.

Kaoru let out a bitter sigh.

Vulnerable… She hated that word. It was just another reminder to her that she could've done something—anything, in fact—when Butch had forced her to drink Antidote Z.

Her eyes narrowed when she thought about Butch. The break-up obviously hadn't affected him since he had the energy to laugh and sneer when she brought up the idea of them as the murderers. Now that she thought about it, it seemed like a completely different Butch… Or perhaps it was another side to him—one that she had never seen, like their recent one-on-one confrontation.

Maybe she really didn't know him at all, like she thought she did.

"What the hell am I thinking about?" Kaoru grumbled angrily before scowling. "This isn't the time to be thinking about _him_."

She had other things to focus on—more important things, in fact, such as the murderer's identity and massacres happening throughout the city. Now that the Mayor refused to disclose anything to the girls due to their current condition, Momoko, Miyako, and Kaoru were completely, utterly stumped. Without their powers, they lost the advantages they had before, and to make matters worse, they just didn't have the time to try to track all the supervillains as their human selves, especially when they still had to go to school.

The Professor had told the girls to come by after school from now on, so he could continue checking in on them. So far, there weren't any unexpected side effects from Antidote Z, which the girls were thankful for.

Honestly, Kaoru still felt that the boys made them drink Antidote Z to spite and weaken them and have them suffer during this crucial time when their powers were necessary to protect the city.

But, then again, their powers hadn't done anything to protect the citizens from the murderer.

"God, why the hell is this even happening?" Kaoru muttered after she lied down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. After a moment of silence, she turned to her side, away from her bedroom window.

Before these massacres started, she and Butch were happily together in their relationship. He would mess with her because he loved riling her up, and she'd always yell at him or punch him for his idiocy. Hell, sometimes, he even deserved those punches, but he never seemed to mind. And the way he would hold her hand, the way he kissed her and approached her last year…

He liked her…didn't he?

Or was that a lie, too? Was _everything_ a lie?

In that instant, Kaoru thought about her one-on-one confrontation with Butch again.

_"I'd give you a good-bye kiss, but…"_

The image of Butch's rueful grin was embedded into Kaoru's mind. His eyes had looked so regretful, almost sorrowful—or perhaps, she had just imagined it.

With every passing second, it became difficult for her to forcibly keep her mind off Butch. One by one, Kaoru recalled the precious memories that she shared with Butch for the past year, and slowly, the weight in her chest became heavier with every memory that whizzed by in her head.

Kaoru shut her eyes immediately, forcing herself more than ever to forget about Butch. He was irrelevant now. He was no longer in her life. He no longer had any sort of relationship to her.

And in that moment, she recalled Butch's words.

_"I have the power of telepathy. I can only read minds, though. I don't have the ability to communicate telepathically with someone."_

Instantly, Kaoru sat up in her bed, momentarily forgetting about the growing heaviness in her chest as her mind slowly became clouded with confusion.

"Since when did Butch get telepathic powers?" Kaoru muttered, narrowing her eyes.

She knew that he couldn't have had those powers when he and his brothers were first born: Brick threw spitballs using a straw, Boomer threw earwax using Q-tips, and Butch threw a stinky sock as a boomerang. Kaoru cringed as she remembered how disgusted she felt when Butch threw that sock at her, but quickly shook her head to stay focused. She then recalled the time the boys borrowed power from Him's dark particles, but of course, that couldn't be why Butch gained telepathic powers.

And then, it clicked.

"Mojo," Kaoru muttered as her eyes widened.

It had to do with that damn potion he mentioned he made for the boys; if it made them older, then it shouldn't be _too_ surprising for the boys to develop powers from it as well since Mojo had intended for the boys to become stronger from drinking the potion. And it was obvious that the boys _did_ drink it, but _why?_

Kaoru frowned as she realized that maybe the boys did it for power, after all—that maybe the boys couldn't help but succumb to wanting more power, even though Mojo said that the boys rebelled. Maybe the boys had realized how pathetic their current powers were, so they felt like they had no choice _but_ to drink that potion to change.

Still, that didn't explain why the boys suddenly disappeared from Tokyo City and went under the radar for about three years.

Kaoru groaned in aggravation before she fell back on her bed. "I give up."

Whenever she found an answer to one question, another question would immediately pop up.

"Maybe Momoko and Miyako are having better luck than I am," Kaoru muttered just before she heard her phone vibrate. She grabbed it immediately and saw that she got a text from Momoko.

_Let's talk after the Professor examines us tomorrow._

Kaoru frowned again and texted, _So, I'm guessing you came up with an idea already?_

 _That's rather quick_ , Miyako replied.

 _We can discuss what to do tomorrow—not just ideas on what to do, but…you know, the boys_ , Momoko then replied.

Kaoru grunted. _About the boys… Has anyone figured out or realized why they came back after they went under the radar? They disappeared for, what, three years, didn't they?_

 _Maybe they became homesick…?_ Miyako suggested.

Kaoru snorted, already sensing Miyako's sheepish tone. _Seriously, Miyako?_

_It's a viable reason, no?_

_I don't think it's viable enough_ , Momoko replied. _Look, girls, let's just sleep on it and talk about it tomorrow. Today was…a lot to take in, after all._

 _Fine_ , Kaoru replied. _Good night, you two. See you in the morning._

_Good night, Kaoru. You, too, Miyako._

_Good night to the both of you_ , Miyako then replied. _Sleep well!_

Kaoru rolled her eyes as she couldn't help but smile at Miyako's attempt to lighten the mood. Still, she couldn't help but sigh whenever her thoughts kept going back to Butch.

Maybe, just maybe, everything would be answered tomorrow. Maybe she'd wake up tomorrow, realizing that everything so far was just a terrible nightmare, and she'd wake up to the first day of school where she found Butch in her room.

Deep down, though, even Kaoru knew that all she did was just veil her thoughts in comforting lies because the cold reality was that a murderer was on the loose, her ex-boyfriend was a supervillain and most likely never in love with her in the first place, and she was powerless to do anything.

* * *

It was the next day, and the Professor had already checked the girls for any side effects from Antidote Z. He had informed them that test results came out negative, but still reminded them to stop by tomorrow, so he could check in on them again. Normally, he would've said more, but he had already gone into his laboratory alone as he muttered to himself.

The girls were currently in the kitchen, making themselves at home as they cooked food for themselves since Ken was working on his own experiment with Peach because the Professor refused to allow Ken to be involved with anything related to Antidote Z.

"You think the Professor's trying to find a cure or something?" Kaoru finally asked after swallowing her spoonful of curry.

"I would think so, yes," Miyako replied, pondering as she slightly tilted her head.

Kaoru grunted in response before finishing her food. After swallowing the last bite, she turned her gaze to Momoko, who was staring off into space, and she frowned. "Momoko?"

Momoko didn't respond.

"Hellooooooo?" Kaoru called out, raising an eyebrow. "Earth to Momoko?"

Miyako blinked a few times in confusion, furrowing her brow. "Momoko-san?"

"We need clues—answers, _anything_ ," Momoko finally replied before she let out a long sigh of frustration. "Otherwise, I'm at a lost." Momoko paused before she added softly, "I really am, girls."

Kaoru inaudibly gulped before she shared a look with Miyako.

If Momoko, the same girl who is none other than Blossom of _the_ Powerpuff Girls Z, couldn't solve the mystery at hand, then what else could they do?

After a long uncomfortable moment of silence, Kaoru cleared her throat. "So, what should we do?"

Momoko hesitated for a few seconds before she sighed in defeat. "We wait."

Kaoru abruptly stood up and glowered at her. "What?!"

"Kaoru-san, please, calm down!" Miyako exclaimed.

Kaoru, however, ignored Miyako and narrowed her eyes. "We can't just sit around and do nothing! There are people getting _killed_ out there every single day—a _group_ of people, for that matter!"

"You don't think I know that?" Momoko yelled, standing up as well. "But the fact of the matter is that we can't do anything without our powers!"

Miyako sighed, standing up and already prepared to physically intervene, if necessary. "Please, you two—"

"That's a load of bull!" Kaoru exclaimed, interrupting Miyako.

"Kaoru," Momoko began, narrowing her eyes. "I don't like this any more than you do, but if we try to do anything without our powers—"

"You know what I did, just before the white light hit me?"

The room went quiet, even though Momoko and Miyako knew fully well what each of them did that day.

"I jumped into action," Kaoru snarled, almost growling at Momoko. "I didn't think. I just did it, all to protect someone I didn't even know, despite the consequences."

Momoko sighed. "This is different—"

"You guys did the same—"

"Kaoru—"

"So, why the hell should we just sit around and do nothing?!"

"Because we could be next!"

Kaoru's eyes widened as Momoko's eyes shifted to the floor, and silence filled the room again.

Slowly, Miyako made her way to Momoko before she embraced her. Both girls hugged each other tightly, the fear slowly enveloping in them. When Kaoru finally approached them, even she couldn't help but wrap her arms around the two.

Deep down, each of them knew they needed this.

"We could be next," Momoko repeated softly, just loud enough for the two of them to hear. "We're facing against an enemy stronger than the Rowdyruffs, maybe even stronger than Him, but the difference is that Him never _killed_ anyone in cold blood and…as grotesque." Momoko paused. "We don't have powers, girls. This means we can be _killed_ , just like that, whether we work together as a group or not."

"Why does the murderer continually aim for groups, though?" Miyako asked, her voice just barely above a whisper.

"For their sick enjoyment?" Kaoru dryly replied, which earned her a small smack on the arm by Momoko.

"There _has_ to be a reason," Momoko said as she frowned. "Killing that many people is too abnormal."

Kaoru blinked, frowning as she shot Momoko a quizzical look. "Abnormal?"

Momoko nodded. "When a person murders someone, they always have a motive or some connection to the victim, or at least, there's a pattern among the victims if they happen to be a serial killer. It's never random or coincidental. But, with the groups who've been killed so far, it's…it's as if there's no pattern at all amongst them." Momoko paused before her eyes widened. "No, wait…"

Miyako and Kaoru backed away, already knowing where Momoko's monologue was heading.

"There's a pattern," Momoko said, crossing her arms as she frowned. "It happens at night, and it's always within a group of people." She paused. "Kaoru, how many were killed the first night?"

"Huh?" Kaoru replied, suddenly taken aback because she was under the impression that Momoko would keep monologuing. She frowned as she pondered. "Uh, maybe…six?"

Miyako was already searching for the news article that contained the first group who had been killed, and she held up her phone's screen when she found its headline to the other two. "Five. All male, and they knew each other."

"What about the next one?" Momoko asked, nodding her head to Miyako's cell phone screen.

Miyako began searching for the next article, narrowing her eyes. There was a long pause until her eyes widened when she found it. "Four… Female, this time, but the victims still knew each other." She paused. "It could've been five, though. Apparently, a girl was supposed to meet with her friends and was late before she…" Miyako allowed her voice to trail off, hesitating to continue.

Kaoru frowned in understanding before furrowing her brow. "And the next one?"

"Um… Three this time. All male."

"What's the age range?" Momoko asked.

"For which?"

"For the three groups listed so far."

"Um, the first group are male high schoolers. Second group is female high schoolers. Third group is…male high schoolers."

"So, the murderer's targeting specifically high schoolers, huh?" Kaoru muttered.

Miyako looked up the next article, and she shook her head in disagreement. "No, the fourth group was actually a group of female college students—five, to be specific."

Kaoru scowled. "What the hell?"

"Fifth group of victims were three male high schoolers—delinquents, apparently… Sixth were female college students again, but this time, just three."

"The numbers are starting to become random," Momoko pointed out, frowning. "But, he's switching between male and female victims."

"So, minimum is three, but maximum is six?" Kaoru suggested, raising an eyebrow.

"Apparently. If the pattern is like this, then the next group should be male." Momoko turned her head to Miyako. "What about the rest? There should be…" Momoko's voice trailed off as she began contemplating for a few seconds before nodding. "Three more. There should be three more groups."

Miyako sighed and shook her head. "It doesn't say. With so many murders happening within a little over a week, every newspaper publishing company must be piled with trying to get the information out as soon as possible."

"All his male victims are in high school, though," Kaoru said as she frowned. "Female ones are in the high school to college range."

Momoko said nothing, suddenly scrutinizing the floor.

Kaoru noticed this, so she raised an eyebrow. "Momoko?"

Momoko remained silent.

Kaoru frowned again, and she nudged the redhead.

Momoko blinked, snapping out of her train of thought. "Oh, sorry, what is it?"

"You zoned out a bit," Miyako explained, frowning slightly and furrowing her brow in concern.

"Did you think of something?" Kaoru asked, raising an eyebrow.

Momoko hesitated, her face blanching before she nodded. "I think…I might know why." She paused as she inaudibly gulped. "We established that the murderer is someone who has a grudge against the Rowdyruffs, and the Rowdyruffs are in high school, so…they might be targeting male high school boys specifically for that."

Kaoru pursed her lips. "But _why?_ The murderer found them, didn't they? So, wouldn't it make sense to keep targeting them?"

"I don't know about that, but…"

"But?"

Momoko hesitated again before she sighed in defeat. "The murderer is a supervillain, right?" When the girls nodded, Momoko added while giving a solemn look, "So, isn't there a chance that they're looking for _us?_ "

Both Miyako and Kaoru widened their eyes in shock, their faces paling.

"Think about it, girls," Momoko insisted, narrowing her eyes. "Our uniforms allow us to conceal what we truly look and sound like, so no one, other than the Professor, Ken, Peach, the Mayor, Ms. Bellum, and, well, the Rowdyruffs, know the Powerpuff Girls Z's identities. If the murderer _is_ looking for us, then it makes sense for them to keep going for groups of girls, but since they don't know what age range we fit into, they switch between high school and college girls."

"Why high school and college, though?" Miyako asked, tilting her head in confusion.

Momoko sighed and shrugged. "I honestly don't know. Technically, the murderer can target female women into their late twenties or thirties."

Kaoru immediately made a look of disgust.

"What?"

"If the murderer is a guy, then he might be aiming for high school and college girls as like some fetish," Kaoru replied as she scowled. "You know, like that stupid saying: 'The younger, the better.'"

Miyako cringed. "Kaoru-san!"

"What? I'm telling the truth! If the murderer is a woman, then it'd still be a fetish! She'd just be called a cougar 'cause she keeps aiming for high school guys!"

" _Kaoru-san!_ "

Momoko groaned. "Kaoru, _please_."

"You have to admit that I make a point," Kaoru stated in a dry tone.

Momoko sent her a pointed look.

Kaoru sighed. "I was just trying to lighten up the mood. For crying out loud, we just determined the possibility that the murderer might be coming after _us_."

"Maybe…maybe that's why the boys did what they had to do to us," Miyako muttered before she added softly in a hopeful tone, "To protect us."

Kaoru scowled. "Protect us? They took away our _powers_ —our only means to protect ourselves. For all we know, maybe they _want_ the murderer after us. You know, kill two birds with one stone."

"No! I refuse to believe that! They wouldn't dare put us in such danger!"

Kaoru sighed. "Miyako—"

"I'm sure they did it to protect us," Miyako interrupted, her eyes becoming glassy, yet defiant.

Kaoru couldn't bring herself to continue, so she glanced away, feeling uncomfortable.

Momoko let out a long sigh, bringing Miyako and Kaoru's attention to her. "There's not much we can do now, honestly." She paused, frowning a bit as she glanced at the clock on the wall. "Each of us may as well head home at this point. The earlier, the better."

"Mind if we stop by that coffee shop that's like three blocks away once we get down the hill?"

"Sounds good to me. I may as well get one of their pastries."

Kaoru grinned. "Still into sweets, aren't you?"

"Oh, hush. You know their muffins are amazing."

Kaoru couldn't help but let out a laugh in response.

Once the girls finished eating their food, packing up their belongings, and saying their good-byes to Professor Utonium, Ken, and Peach, they made their way down the hill, the sun already setting, causing the sky to turn a bright orange, fading to various shades of pink and red.

"Did we really stay that long at the lab?" Kaoru muttered.

"The Professor _did_ mention that the tests would take hours," Miyako replied.

"Yeah, but _that_ long?"

"Apparently so," Momoko replied.

The walk down the hill and to the coffee shop was spent in small conversations between the trio because they couldn't talk about their superheroine duties in public. Well, that, and each of them wanted to keep their mind off the Rowdyruff Boys _and_ the murderer.

Before long, they entered the coffee shop, a bell ringing upon their arrival as they continued to chat until they noticed how empty the place was.

"Oh, my goodness," Miyako muttered.

"Welcome!" a male barista greeted them from behind the counter once the girls approached. "Anything I could get for you?"

"Blueberry muffin, please," Momoko replied.

"Me, too," Miyako added.

"I'd like a grande white mocha," Kaoru said.

"Okay, coming right up!" the male barista said.

It wasn't long before the girls paid for their orders. While Momoko and Miyako already received their muffins, they were still waiting for Kaoru to get her coffee.

"It's really empty," Miyako whispered.

Momoko sighed before whispering, "It must be due to the murders. They all happened during night time, and it's already evening…"

Kaoru frowned, not saying anything. Once her order came, she thanked the barista and left the coffee shop with Momoko and Miyako. Just about three blocks away from the coffee shop, she noticed Kuro was there, heading in their direction and waving his hand at her. Kaoru frowned, her steps coming to a halt immediately, which made Momoko and Miyako stop walking with her.

"Kaoru?" Momoko called.

"Is something the matter?" Miyako asked.

"Kuro's waving at us," Kaoru replied, still frowning before she took a sip from her coffee and squinted her eyes, realizing that…it looked like he wanted to talk to _her_ since he kept waving.

"Does he want to speak with us?"

Kaoru, however, didn't respond and stayed put, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not sure, but it looks like he wants to talk to me? You two can go on ahead if you want."

Momoko frowned. "That's not a good idea. Each of us can't be alone right now, Kaoru. You know that."

"I know, but…I mean, he's just one of the faculty members—well, an intern." Kaoru paused before sighing. "Look, Momoko, I know how you feel right now, but I think we'll be fine. I…kind of snapped at him before on accident—"

"Why?"

Kaoru frowned. "He gave off this vibe that made me instinctively be on guard. You know, with his words. But I shrugged it off as just sleep deprivation getting to me."

"Are you talking about when you were waiting for us at the shoe lockers and met with Kuro?"

Kaoru nodded.

Momoko's frown grew in response.

"What's wrong?" Miyako asked, her face becoming concerned.

"Girls, when did he show up again?"

Miyako blinked a few times, not quite understanding why Momoko asked such an obvious question. "On the first day of school…"

"Meaning that the paperwork for him to intern at our school was done beforehand, right? But think about it: if he's really interning at our school, then why hasn't he mentioned the university he goes to or his major?"

"His fangirls might know?" Kaoru whispered.

Momoko shook her head. "No, I would've heard it through the grapevine eventually because a lot of his fangirls were also fans of Brick." She paused before scrutinizing her gaze. "When did the first murder happen again?"

Miyako blinked as she tried to recall.

"The night before the first day of school," Kaoru replied. "I remember because I passed by a bunch of TVs with… _Butch_ "—Kaoru narrowed her eyes and frowned—"while there was a news report going on."

Momoko continued to stare in scrutiny at Kuro's approaching figure, now two blocks away.

"Don't tell me my bad vibe about him was right back when he approached me at the shoe lockers," Kaoru muttered.

"It's better to be safe than sorry."

"So, what should we do?" Miyako asked.

Kaoru blinked and frowned. "I'll try to talk to him."

Momoko's eyes widened. "What?"

"I can talk to him. It's really not a big deal—"

"No, we'll talk to him as a group—"

"Momoko, you don't get it. If we go together as a group, he might not reveal anything. He only gave me that vibe when I was alone, so…"

Momoko narrowed her eyes. "I'm not having you risk yourself."

"Momoko-san is right," Miyako said, frowning in disapproval. "You shouldn't have to risk yourself for something like this."

Kaoru sighed. "It's not like you guys will be too far away. Seriously. If he tries to pull anything, then I'll just punch back or something. I technically have faster reflexes than you guys, remember?"

Momoko stared at Kaoru for a few seconds before she sighed in defeat. "Fine, but don't go too far ahead to talk with him. At least stay within close enough distance, so we can run to you and pull you away."

Kaoru nodded, and immediately, she waved back to Kuro and ran up to him, who was now just a block away from the coffee shop.

"Hey, Matsubara-san," Kuro called, grinning at her before he nodded his head at Momoko and Miyako in the distance. "I didn't know you girls knew about this coffee shop, too."

Kaoru raised an eyebrow. "You go here, too?"

"Ever since I found it, yes. They even provide free Wi-Fi there, which is pretty handy."

Kaoru nodded slowly, her eyes assessing him. "By the way, I saw you waving at us. Was there something you needed?"

"No, not really. I just wanted to talk with you three and see how things have been going for you. You know, just small talk." He paused before slowly giving her a smile. "I'm glad you decided to come here instead of me running to you girls. I wanted to check up on you since I remembered how tired you were last time we spoke."

Kaoru felt that gut instinct in her flare up again. Maybe it was because she knew she was vulnerable now after losing her powers, but there was something behind Kuro's smile, just like the other day, that set her _on edge_ , and she couldn't help but glare.

Kuro's face dropped. "Oh, my, you're glaring at me again."

Kaoru blinked, averting her gaze. "Sorry about that, sir. It's just…" Kaoru sighed, inwardly annoyed at how her facial expression gave her suspicions away. "Things have been…difficult lately."

Kuro nodded solemnly. "Are you talking about the murders happening around the city?"

Kaoru flinched immediately.

"Ah… Well, it's no surprise that you're scared and on edge." Kuro sighed. "To be honest, there's been talk about how we should stop all after school activities, so students can get home earlier."

Kaoru blinked. "Really?"

"Yes. But that aside, you, Akatsutsumi-san, and Gotokuji-san should really get on home. It's not safe anymore to be out here in the evening." Immediately, he pat Kaoru's shoulder and sent her a solemn, piercing gaze. " _Especially_ for you girls. After all, you never know who could be next…"

Just like that, Kaoru felt a chill go down her spine, even when Kuro retracted his hand. The way he looked at her made her feel goosebumps on her skin, and his eyes… There was something behind them that didn't express true concern at all. If anything, it…it almost seemed like…

"Well, I need to get my coffee now before the shop closes since we ran out at the office," Kuro said, breaking Kaoru's train of thought, before he brushed past her. "Be sure you and your friends get home safe!"

Kaoru whirled around, of course, watching him walk past Momoko and Miyako casually as the two ran up to her, both concerned expressions on their faces.

"Kaoru, are you okay?" Momoko asked.

Kaoru flinched. "What?"

"You look pale," Miyako said softly. "What happened?"

"I…I don't know," Kaoru muttered.

Momoko frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I…" Kaoru shuddered. "God damn it…"

"Kaoru?"

Kaoru inaudibly gulped. "You were right. I shouldn't have spoken to him alone. Shit…"

Momoko blinked, and immediately, an authoritative look overcame her face. "Kaoru, what happened?"

"I don't know… He just… He talked about how we should get home soon, like the good teaching intern he supposedly is, but there was something about the _way_ he talked that just didn't match up with his words… There was something about his _eyes_ , Momoko. His _eyes_ didn't look like how they normally did in school." Kaoru shuddered. "Damn it, I hate it when my gut instinct's right and I don't listen to it…"

Momoko frowned. "All right. From now on, if Kuro tries to approach any one of us, no one should talk to him alone. We should try to get away from him as soon as possible. Understood?"

Kaoru and Miyako nodded in response.

Momoko then let out a sigh. "Let's go home, then."

"Individually?" Miyako asked in concern.

Momoko shook her head. "No. Let's head back to the Professor's. We can ask him if he can give us a ride home. It's too dangerous right now for us to try to go home individually." Momoko then glanced back at the coffee shop. "Besides, it looks like we have to be careful around someone at school now, too."

Kaoru nodded, still feeling her goosebumps on her skin, even after she took a sip of her coffee.

"Kaoru, are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine," Kaoru muttered. "I just…" Kaoru let out a sigh. "God damn it, everything would be so much easier if we had our powers back."

"It's okay," Momoko said, placing her hand on Kaoru's shoulder for comfort. "Even if we're still powerless, we're going to protect this city."

"With our lives?" Miyako asked.

Momoko nodded after taking a deep breath. "With our lives on the line."

Kaoru raised an eyebrow before she let out a small scoff. "And this is coming from the girl who just talked about how dangerous it was back in the lab."

"I know, but…we're the public figures of hope and safety. If we're not going to help protect the citizens and mitigate this further, then who will?"

Kaoru couldn't help but smile. "Now there's the leader we know and love. So, what do we do now?"

"We talk with the Mayor and see what's been done so far on the investigations."

"But, he said he wouldn't give us access," Miyako replied.

Kaoru frowned immediately. "Oh, right, there's that. What's the other plan, Momoko?"

"There is no other plan," Momoko replied.

Miyako and Kaoru both blinked in surprise.

"Listen, girls, we can't wait around forever like I said, especially after what Kuro just pulled. At this rate, it's going to seem like _nowhere_ is safe, so we need to convince the Mayor as much as possible that he needs to give us access to those files. Any information he has, combined with what we know, would narrow down and maybe even clear up a lot of things."

"And if he doesn't let us have access?" Miyako asked.

"We'll make him give us access, whether he likes it or not."

Kaoru whistled. "I think this is the first time I've heard you become this aggressive."

"If we want to save more citizens of Tokyo City, then we _need_ to be aggressive," Momoko replied, narrowing her eyes. "Besides, I'm interested in knowing more about the supervillains they've looked into so far. We need to find that missing link between them and the boys to narrow down who's committing these murders." Momoko paused before sighing. "But, it is getting late, so we'll have to talk to the Professor when we get back about scheduling an appointment with the Mayor to sort this out since we can't just fly to his office anymore…"

Kaoru sighed. "The Professor might not even let us meet with the Mayor, you know."

"She has a point," Miyako replied. "Both the Mayor and the Professor are extremely concerned about us. After all, if…if we're gone, then all hope is lost, isn't it? So, it's only fair that they want us to try to stay under the radar as much as possible."

Momoko sighed. "I know, but if the murderer _is_ after us, just like how they're after the boys, then they can target us at any time. Just…just _think_ about it, girls. We're _romantically_ linked to the boys, so either way, as civilians _or_ as our alter egos, we're in danger regardless."

"When you put it that way, that doesn't sound comforting at all," Kaoru muttered.

"I know… But, that's why, at the very least, we need to do _everything_ we can, no matter how powerless we may be, to save our city from this murderer—because that's what superheroes do."


	13. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm _really_ happy that this chapter finally got finished. I don't want to say much more because it could spoil you all, but it's exciting to see what I've been planning for years start to slowly come together. I don't know how many readers of this fanfic are still around, but if you're reading this right now, I just wanted to thank you for your patience and support with my slow, sporadic updates.
> 
> I know the world's in a state of chaos and suffering right now due to the pandemic, but I hope that you all are staying safe and healthy and that this chapter brings a smile to your face or some joy and relief. With all that said, enjoy.

A week had passed by since then, and strangely enough, the massacres had died down. No one understood _why_ , including Momoko, Miyako, and Kaoru. With everyone becoming accustomed to a group massacre happening per day, this turn of events caused everyone to tilt their heads in confusion and left them in anxiety and anticipation.

Momoko, Miyako, and Kaoru were finally able to schedule an appointment with the Mayor and Ms. Bellum; ideally, it would've been sooner, but due to the massacres happening left and right, the Mayor had been busy trying to ease the public with public announcements and working with the police department to figure out who the culprit behind the massacres was.

And now, here they were, standing outside the doors of his office and just about ready to enter. When they did, they were surprised to see that Ms. Bellum was the only one there, standing in front of the Mayor's desk with a clipboard and notepad in hand. She then gestured to two couches facing each other with a low coffee table placed in between. Soon enough, she and the girls sat on opposing sides with Momoko sitting in the middle, directly facing Ms. Bellum; Miyako on Momoko's right; and Kaoru on Momoko's left.

"If you're looking for the Mayor, he had to leave due to an emergency meeting with the Chief of the Police Department in Tokyo City," Ms. Bellum said, already knowing what the girls were going to ask. "It was scheduled at the last minute. Otherwise, he would've been here to meet with you girls."

"You sure he's not avoiding us—specifically my temper?" Kaoru asked, raising an eyebrow as she leaned back on the couch. "He seemed pretty reluctant this past week to meet us, especially after finding out about Momoko's theory."

"Well, you girls know that you're vulnerable right now. If we lose our symbol of hope, it'll only drive our citizens further in panic."

"Ms. Bellum has a point, Kaoru," Momoko said, pursing her lips. "Although I don't like being kept out of the loop, they're doing it for our safety, especially since we don't know how well our uniforms work anymore or how protective they even are. And considering who we're up against…" Momoko's voice trailed off, not wanting to continue, but Kaoru and Miyako both knew that Momoko was not only referring to whoever's behind the murders, but also the Rowdyruff Boys Z.

Ms. Bellum sighed. "That aside, what did you girls want to talk about? The Professor was rather _vague_ "—at this, Ms. Bellum raised an eyebrow—"when he said you girls had wanted to set up this meeting. I'm hoping that it's not what I'm thinking, but knowing you girls, it most likely is." She paused, waiting for the girls' answer, but none came. "Am I right?"

"We can't just stay silent and watch people _die_ , Ms. Bellum," Miyako finally replied. "It's not right, even if our powers are gone." She then paused, pursing her lips. "Besides, the sooner we get it cleared about _who_ the murderer is, the sooner the boys will be cleared of all suspicion."

"Who are these boys you're talking about?"

"The Rowdyruff Boys Z," Momoko replied.

Ms. Bellum blinked in recognition. "Oh, that's right. The Professor had mentioned to us that they're back."

"And shittier than ever," Kaoru mumbled.

"Kaoru, _not_ now," Momoko muttered to her.

"I was under the assumption that you girls wouldn't care about them anymore after finding out what they did to you," Ms. Bellum said, bringing the girls' attention to her. "Then again, I should know better than to assume, shouldn't I?"

Kaoru snorted, sensing a glare from Momoko that signaled her to stay quiet, so she quickly averted her gaze and clicked her tongue in frustration.

"Putting the Rowdyruff Boys Z aside, Ms. Bellum, we need to find out who the murderer is, so we can _stop_ them for good," Momoko replied sternly. "If the culprit is a supervillain with a grudge against the boys—"

"Girls," Ms. Bellum interrupted. "You know that I can't share any further information with you other than the fact that we're working on it."

"But—"

"That includes the updated status of all the supervillains in Tokyo City."

Momoko was about to retort until her eyes slightly widened in realization. "The police have already looked into the list of supervillains, haven't they?"

Ms. Bellum stared at her in silence.

"I'm right, aren't I?"

"Wait, then why the hell haven't we been told about that?!" Kaoru exclaimed.

Ms. Bellum sighed. "Need I remind you all that you're _vulnerable_ right now and need to proceed with caution?"

Miyako's eyes widened in protest. "But Ms. Bellum—"

"No, you girls need to understand that we cannot let you know anything about this. You three are our symbol of hope right now—"

"Even though we haven't done shit?" Kaoru grumbled, scowling as she averted her gaze to the floor.

"I don't ever want to hear those types of words coming from any of your mouths," Ms. Bellum said, her stern tone coming through this time. "You three are the Powerpuff Girls Z and represent _hope, peace_ , and _protection_ to this city. At the end of the day, our citizens know that they can always rely on you to save the day, no matter who the enemy is. Even if you've lost your powers, it doesn't change the fact that you and your superhero alter egos are one person—you're one and the same. Right now, however, you girls don't have your powers. This means you can get _hurt_ , and if you're hurt—or dare I say it, _worse_ —what does that mean to our city?"

All three girls remained silent in response.

"I repeat, _what does that mean to our city?_ "

"The city loses its hope," Momoko answered, her lips pursing and eyes in conflict. "Each and every citizen will lose faith in us—lose faith in _hope_ —that this nightmare will be over."

"That's right," Ms. Bellum said. "And I want you girls to never forget that—because _that's_ the reason why we can't let you get involved right now."

"But Ms. Bellum, we may be onto something!" Momoko exclaimed, her face in protest. "You said it yourself that even if we lost our powers, we're one and the same with our superhero alter egos. _Blossom is a part of me._ That means as Blossom, as Momoko, as _me_ , I need to get to the bottom of whatever is happening to this city! _We_ , the Powerpuff Girls Z, need to get to the bottom of this for our citizens' sake!"

"No, I refuse—"

"Don't pull that on us!" Kaoru immediately yelled. "As much as I hate Momoko going down this route, she's our leader, and I believe her when she could be onto something here. Besides, I'm sick and _tired_ of getting reminded of how _weak_ I am just because I'm _only_ Kaoru Matsubara by you, the Mayor, and the Professor! _I'm Buttercup_ , damn it, and I'll handle anything that comes my damn way—murderer or not!"

"We need to know, Ms. Bellum," Miyako added, her face also becoming stern and posture straightened. "As the Powerpuff Girls Z, as the _protectors_ of this city, we have the right to know what's going on. You're right that we're still the Powerpuff Girls Z. Deep down, Bubbles and I are one and the same, and I'm thinking that you tell us what's going on, so we know how to do our part—superpowers or not." Miyako then paused, her face falling. "Besides, _I_ need to know what's going on for _his_ sake…"

Momoko's gaze softened as she looked at her. "Miyako…"

"Not just for his sake. _All_ the boys' sake." Miyako paused again, this time her lips pursing. "They're hiding something. Momoko-san and Kaoru-san have made that much clear. They don't want to involve us, so they took away our powers."

"Or they're trying to get rid of us," Kaoru muttered.

Miyako sent her a sharp glare.

Kaoru immediately placed her arms up in defense. "I'm _just_ saying."

Momoko then held up her hands to Miyako and Kaoru, halting their potential argument from continuing. When Miyako and Kaoru got her cue, Momoko let her hands down and looked at Ms. Bellum again with a look of determination. "Ms. Bellum, you _need_ to let us know. We have the _right_ to know—as Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup of the Powerpuff Girls Z, powers or no powers."

A couple of seconds of silence passed as Momoko, Miyako, Kaoru, and Ms. Bellum stared at each other, their gazes not faltering in the slightest.

Finally, Ms. Bellum sighed in defeat, even though a smile appeared on her face. "All right, you girls win. I'll tell you what we've learned so far." She then paused before pursing her lips. "To answer your question, Momoko, yes, the police department looked into the list of supervillains to see if there was a connection once black light was found among the evidence from the first massacre. Many of the supervillains are currently inactive, meaning that they don't participate in crimes anymore. A supervillain who is an example of this is Mojo Jojo. We found that supervillains such as Fuzzy Lumpkins, Sedusa—although she's a bit of an exemption, considering her state—and others have, in a way, 'retired' from their life of crime and mishaps."

"And?" Momoko asked. "Who _are_ the active ones?"

"No one's active, per se," Ms. Bellum said, her lips pursing further, before she sighed. "When I said that many of the supervillains are inactive, I meant those were the ones we could _account_ for, contact, go undercover to see how they are, and so forth. There's no one _active_ because the rest all went _missing_ —truly under the radar—and there were only a few of them." She paused again, her gaze softening. "Before you girls confirmed their identities, the Rowdyruff Boys Z had already been deemed as missing when the police department checked in with Mojo Jojo years ago. Just recently, they confirmed one more person went missing. If anything, the police department is surmising that all signs point to that person, _not_ the boys, but—"

"Who?" Kaoru immediately asked.

Ms. Bellum stayed silent for a few seconds, her lips pursing again. "Ace."

" _What?_ " Momoko exclaimed.

"I don't believe it," Miyako muttered.

"You don't mean of the Gangreen Gang, do you?" Kaoru demanded, her eyes narrowing.

"Kaoru, you need to calm down," Ms. Bellum said.

" _No!_ If that guy is the murderer—"

"We don't know where he _is_ , Kaoru. We only know the Rowdyruff Boys Z's statuses because of you girls, but as for Ace, we don't know about his whereabouts." Ms. Bellum sighed. "When the police checked in with the Gangreen Gang, they said that their group—as a gang, as _criminals_ , to be accurate—had dispersed a long time ago because their leader had gone missing. They're all still friends and hoping that Ace comes back to them one day, but from their perspective, he just got up one day and left—except for Snake."

"What did Snake say?" Momoko asked.

"Well, Snake said that the last time they had interacted with each other was years ago and that Ace was extremely angry at the Rowdyruff Boys Z to the point that he wanted to 'teach them to not mess with the Gangreen Gang' with his own hands. One of the Rowdyruff Boys Z in particular had really angered Ace."

"Let me guess: Butch?"

Kaoru immediately flinched.

"Bingo," Ms. Bellum replied.

"Why?" Kaoru managed to ask, but her voice came out soft.

"I'm afraid that's something we don't have an answer for."

Kaoru pursed her lips, resisting the urge to retort and yell at Ms. Bellum that the police department could've done more—that even _she_ could've done more—to find out the truth of whatever this was going on. Millions of thoughts swirled in her head as she recalled how _beaten_ and _bruised_ Butch was from supposedly encountering Ace—if the culprit was even Ace, to begin with. At that thought, Kaoru blinked. "Wait."

"What is it, Kaoru?" Momoko asked.

"The boys are stronger, right?"

"Yes…" Miyako replied, furrowing her brow as though the answer was obvious.

"And Momoko, you brought up that the culprit could only be a supervillain, right?"

Momoko nodded. "Where are you—" Momoko immediately stopped herself from continuing before her eyes widened. "Oh, my God."

Miyako furrowed her brow in confusion. "What? What is it?"

"Are you girls onto something?" Ms. Bellum asked.

"Ms. Bellum, did the Gangreen Gang look any different from the last time we had seen them?"

Ms. Bellum shook her head. "No, the police department described them as looking as they had years ago, aside from looking older now, of course. Why?"

"Oh, my God," Momoko muttered before she groaned and held her head in anguish. "Oh, my _God_ , I feel like an idiot now."

"Hey, if you're thinking what I'm thinking, then you're not the only one," Kaoru muttered.

"Girls?" Ms. Bellum asked, a tone of concern seeping through her voice.

Miyako then started tugging at Momoko's sleeve. "What is it? I don't understand what you're both thinking."

Kaoru licked her lips. "Miyako, remember what Ace looked like years ago?"

Miyako tilted her head as she pondered, humming softly. "Let's see… He had black hair, green skin, pink eyes, and black sunglasses. That's about as much as I can remember, though. It's hard to remember anything else other than the color of his skin and eyes since all the Gangreen Gang members also looked like that…"

"That's _exactly_ it, Miyako," Momoko replied before she sighed. "If Ace is the culprit, then how is he able to beat up a _Rowdyruff_?"

Miyako's eyes widened in realization. "You don't mean…"

Momoko nodded grimly. "We know for certain that the boys have gotten stronger, most likely from drinking Mojo Jojo's potion. That means at the very least that they're no longer the same boys we had encountered when they were first created—meaning that if Ace were to face Butch the way he was _back then_ , then he would've lost, but instead, _Butch_ was the one who lost." Momoko paused, pursing her lips. "If we put that together with what the boys have told us, then the only logical explanation left is that Ace has gotten _stronger_."

"But what about the massacres?"

Momoko shook her head. "I don't know. I don't know _why_ Ace could be the one who's behind all the killings. It's even stranger now that they've abruptly stopped. If he's become a serial killer since we last saw him years ago, then that means _something_ happened."

Kaoru scowled as she scrutinized her gaze. "Meaning?"

" _Meaning_ that if we piece in what Ms. Bellum just told us, something must've happened between him and the boys years ago. Remember? The boys went under the radar for a few years and then came back. If Ace is tied with them, then that explains his disappearance and return."

"But we don't even have _proof_ that it could be him—"

"No, it _has_ to be him," Momoko interrupted, and before she would let Kaoru retort, she turned her head to Ms. Bellum. "Am I right, Ms. Bellum? None of the other supervillains would be able to pull any of these things off—going on…on _killing_ sprees, beating a Rowdyruff who's clearly gotten much stronger than before, but still managing to avoid public detection."

"Well, when you put together what you've just said, Momoko, it's much more difficult to believe that it's _not_ Ace, at this point," Ms. Bellum replied.

"There's one more thing that's bothering me, too," Momoko muttered.

"Which is?"

"If Ace _is_ back and he's gotten stronger, but none of us have been able to find him, then I wonder…" Momoko's voice trailed off as the look of hesitation appeared on her face. "I wonder if his _physical_ appearance has changed, too."

" _What?_ " Kaoru screeched.

"You must be kidding," Miyako muttered, her eyes wide.

"Hear me out, girls. We know the Rowdyruff Boys Z physically changed, but who's to say that Ace hasn't either? If him having green skin and pink eyes is a dead giveaway that he's part of the Gangreen Gang, then he could've done anything for all we know to change his appearance." Momoko paused. "I just…don't know how he could've achieved something like that when it was caused by black light."

"I think that's enough for one day," Ms. Bellum said, stopping Momoko to continue further as she stood up. "I'll be sure to relay what you girls have said to the police department, especially you, Momoko, but right now, I need to attend to another meeting soon. They'll be able to handle all these cases, so you girls need to continue to lay low and stay safe. Would you like me to show you on your way out?"

Miyako shook her head. "No, Ms. Bellum, we'll be fine."

"Yeah, we know the way out," Kaoru added.

Ms. Bellum nodded before she waved and said her good-byes to Momoko, Miyako, and Kaoru while the trio left her office.

Once the door shut behind them and they went to the elevator, Momoko finally let out a sigh.

"What's with the sigh?" Kaoru asked.

Momoko made no response—at least until they got into an empty elevator with just the three of them. Once the door shut behind them and the elevator began to head down to the lobby, Momoko said, "We need to do something."

"Do what?" Miyako asked.

"I'm not 100% sure, but we need to do _something_ —anything that'll solve whatever in the world is going on."

"You're not making sense, Momoko," Kaoru replied, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm talking about what we just discussed with Ms. Bellum."

"Except she said the police department will handle it."

Momoko shook her head. "No. They're not going to be able to do it."

"What do you mean?" Miyako asked.

"Miyako, Kaoru, this is going to sound crazy, but…I think we're going to be on our own moving forward with finding anything related to this case."

" _What?!_ " Miyako and Kaoru exclaimed.

"Momoko, are you _crazy?!_ " Kaoru then hissed softly.

"Just hear me out, okay?" Momoko paused. "I meant that as much as we can trust the police, we don't know when the massacres will strike. Right now, everyone is lured into a false sense of security, thinking they've stopped, but we know who could be behind it, and we don't know when he'll strike—"

"Momoko-san, you're forgetting the fact that we _can't_ conduct our investigations," Miyako whispered softly, raising a knowing eyebrow.

"I know, which is something I'll need to figure out." Momoko paused, frowning. "The best choice right now is to lay low until we come up with the best strategy while we wait for our powers to return. Outfits or not, we're still who we are."

Kaoru scowled. "What about the assholes?"

"Who?"

"The _boys_ ," Kaoru deadpanned.

Miyako's jaw dropped. "Kaoru-san, they're not—"

Kaoru groaned. "Miyako, _please_ , not now."

Momoko frowned, pondering as she crossed her arms.

"Momoko?"

Finally, Momoko shook her head. "We need to lay low."

" _What?_ "

"If what I'm thinking is right, then we can't interact with the boys."

"And what exactly _are_ you thinking?" Miyako asked.

Momoko licked her lips. "Do you both remember when I brought up patterns of the serial killer?"

Miyako and Kaoru slowly nodded.

"I've been thinking a lot about it, especially after our meeting just now with Ms. Bellum, and one thing has been made clear from that—why that pattern exists, if the culprit really is Ace."

Miyako and Kaoru both blinked, looking at each other in confusion before glancing at Momoko again.

"Momoko, spill," Kaoru said, frowning.

"Yeah, I'm…I'm not following," Miyako muttered.

However, the remnants of fear and anxiety began to grow on their faces, especially when Momoko let out a deep breath and looked at them with the commanding, determined face of a leader they would always see during difficult times.

"If the culprit really is Ace, then it's no surprise that he's after us _and_ the boys," Momoko finally said. "He has every reason to hate us, just as much as he hates them. We know now that he'll go as far as…killing someone. That's why if we see the boys, we can't interact with them."

"Because he'll find us," Miyako murmured, her eyes widened. " _And_ them."

Momoko grimly nodded. "Exactly."


End file.
